Sugar, Geeks, and Card Games, Oh My!
by kazikamikaze24
Summary: Rated T for swearing and perverted suggestions. Stocking ran out of sweets, and on her quest to find some, she nearly gets into a car accident thanks to a very special card. As if to guide her onto a particular path, a card shop is near where she parks, and a certain Geek Boy is running the shop...
1. Arc 1: Of Card Games and Annoyances

Stocking walked past her sleeping sister, Panty, who was as bare as a beached whale roasting on the hot sand, and went right for the kitchen. Her personal fridge was empty of all of her wonderful sweets, and she was hoping that there was something in the main fridge she could munch on at the moment. Garterbelt _never_ made sweets, as it was something he made her do, and Panty hates sweets, so there was no point in going through her things. She opened the fridge, and instantly frowned.

_'Shit, nothing.'_ Well, saying there was nothing in the fridge wasn't correct, as there were plenty of spicy sausages and pork chops in it, but nothing that she was in the mood to eat. With a sigh escaping her lips, she closed the fridge and took the keys to See Through off the small table in front of the couch and left. Since it was the middle of the day, and a particularly hot day at that, she didn't want to stay outside for too long, as she didn't want to make herself or her dress all sticky with sweat. She wasn't sure what she would get, possibly lemonade or some sugar infested cakes, as those were always yummy to eat!

Much to her dismay, she wasn't the only one who wanted to get something good to eat, as her destination, a cafe in West Hollywood, was filled with people. She didn't trust 13 Cakes after the Gigantic Cloud fiasco, and the Oscar Cafe was still closed, which was understandable since he was a ghost. Orange Drop was the most popular sweet place in all of Daten City, so she KNEW that she wouldn't be able to get in unless she woke up early in the morning, a feat that she would never willingly do, and Whity-White was another ghost-ran place that she didn't trust.

Yes, Hell Pound was killed and every single of the ingredients that the place had been replaced by the original store owners, but she didn't want to possibly relive being a giant all over again.

_'God, why can't I find a sweets place anywhere? I'll take anything sweet!'_ Stocking looked up at the sky, hoping that someone, hopefully mother, would answer her prayer. _'I'll take anything! You hear me? ANYTHING!'_

She shouldn't have said that, she realized a few seconds after, as a small piece of brown paper landed on See Through's windshield, causing her to take a page out of Panty's book and lost control of the vehicle. She managed to cause_ little_ damage, mostly taking out the elderly and some electrical cars that were going rather slow, yet found herself safely parked on a parking spot. After taking a few moments to regain her breathing, she jumped out of the car, walking up to the offending item and grabbed it.

The object in question was a small brown card that wasn't even the size of her hand. If she only saw the brown features of it, she would of threw it the the ground, possibly ripped it to shreds, or use the card to help her start a fire. However, when she turned the card over, she found her gaze trapped onto the holographic image that unknowingly looked at her direction. The image on the card was certainly unique, as it showed a tall, crimson haired woman whose hair went past her breasts, had light purple skin, and had a strip of brown vein blinding her eyes. From there, a majority of her body was covered in these veins, all of which were focused upon left demonic wing that had three talons at the tip of the wing. Where her breasts were were two smooth sphere, which was odd, since the surrounding area were rough veins, though her arms were just as odd, with the left having sharp gold talons, while the right hand, though infested with veins, had a normal hand. The only thing that kept her clothed was a black sash, adding more to her already creepy image, though what sold it for her was its right wing.

It was an angel's wing.

It wasn't black, grey, or any other color she would of expected. It was a large, white wing that she might of seen on an Archangel in heaven, though why such an obvious creature from darkness would have such a heavenly image on her was beyond her. As if to further confuse her, the character had dark miasma, or a black aura, pouring off it, followed by an aurora borealis forming above. When she looked around the character's thighs, only darkness peaked past the growing veins and wings, causing her to wonder who could even THINK of such a card.

Then, it blinked.

"WHAH!" Stocking nearly dropped the card right off the bat, as what she saw scared her. Who wouldn't be scared of seeing where breasts were supposed to be reveal a pair of curious red eyes that stared right into theirs? She looked at the card once more, sighing in joy as she saw that the card's "eyes", if you will, were closed once more. She didn't know what exactly she was to do with the thing, as there was something odd about it, when she noticed that she saw the bolded words **SODA TWO FOR A DOLLAR** painted onto a window a few stores from her position. She, still holding onto the card, ran straight into the store, wondering what glorious sweet drinks it had for her to buy.

"Konichiwa! Welcome to the Card Buffet- Stocking?" She couldn't believe her luck! There, at the register, was Brief, otherwise known to the angels as Geek Boy, looking through a stack of cards that had the same back image of the card she found. She glanced at the store, and noticed that it was rather big, which was obvious due to all of the tables that littered the floor, and the shelves that had various figures and board games. She noticed two other rooms as she walked towards the counter, four if she counted the room that was restricted to employees only and "Bathroom 1", meaning that there were other bathrooms in the building. "W-what can I get for you Stocking-san?"

"Geek Boy," Stocking glared at the ginger boy, "I told you to call me Stocking. We're not in one of your mangas. We're in America!" Brief nodded, gulping at her presence. Now this she liked. Having mental control over people was one of her past times, unlike her sister, who loved seeing guys she didn't want to fuck anymore wanting to have a second shot at her. "Anyway, two things. I want four of your sugariest sodas, and I want you to tell me what the heck this card is." She placed said card on the conter, which Geek Boy glanced at before pointing to the row of candy bars and chips a few paces away from her.

"Do you also want some candy as well? We got a good selection on brand name sweets and some popular yet not so known candies as well." Stocking walked over and bent down, examining what stock Brief owned, and couldn't believe what she saw. There, wrapped in velvet blue packaging were Athena's Blood Candies, a Heaven only product that stimulated the brain, temporarily gave the eater brain cells that would provide them with additional knowledge, and was one of the highest ranked sweets in all of Heaven!

"How did you get this!" Stocking waved one of bags in the air, causing a slight gurgle to come from Brief. What made him make such a noise, she didn't know. She stood up just in time to see Geek Boy wiping his nose, instantly filling her own with the scent of blood. Was she bent so low that the skirt of her dress fell forward, revealing her bum to him? She couldn't help but to smirk and point at him. "Oi, PERVERT! I'm talking to you!"

"I-I'M NOT A PERVERT!" Brief shouted, causing her to lessen her smirk just a bit. He was so easy to get nervous, though she noticed that he spoke with less of that particular emotion and more confidence. "Anyway, my-my family holds a large power base over the city and its stores, thanks to it being one of the founding corporations long before Daten City was even called such. It was one of my ancestors that made a deal with one of the deities of Heaven, allowing them to claim our corporation and houses as bases, in exchange for us to be allowed their aid and the same rights as angels. My uncle, the owner of this card shop, is using it to his advantage by stocking up on popular angel sweets."

"When were you related to Heaven?"

"I'm not." Brief shrugged and pointed to the ceiling. "Though holding knowledge of such a deal was the main reason as to why I became so obsessed with ghosts and angels. Mind you, after being around it all, I guess I'm ready to go back to a normal life..." Stocking didn't know what to make of that statement, as Brief rarely said anything depressing. He was mostly a pouting boy, though when he was happy she couldn't help but to smile as well.

Not at him though, at the fact that Panty would instantly do something to break his smile, or break him. Whichever came first mind you.

_'Then again,'_ She thought to herself, _'there is only so much someone could take of such punishment before they quit and do something else.'_ Stocking nodded, as she couldn't stop Geek Boy from no longer hanging out with them, even if she wanted to. Which she didn't. Why would she want to hang out with such a nerd in the first place? Still, she looked at the card and pointed to it. "You never did tell me what it is." Brief looked at it before sighing.

"Its called Darkness Neosphere from the Yu-Gi-Oh card game, and there is only one of it in the entire world." Stocking raised an eyebrow at that. Did that mean that the card is insanely valuable then? She could always use some more money to buy sweets, instead of selling used panties on the internet like her sister did for spare cash. "The reason I say that is because I can't find any other sources saying that such a card exists, so it must be something coming out for a future release. That, or you truly_ do_ have a one of a kind card that is meant to be yours Stocking-san."

"No suffixes Geek Boy, unless you want a meeting with Stripe 1&2."

"Better than being shot at by Blacklace I bet." Brief replied, causing her to chuckle, a rarity all on its own, though hearing Brief reply with an acceptable comeback was even rarer. He had his own smile, though a small one, and pushed the card back to her. "I can't take the card as long as its one of a kind though, as I wouldn't know how much its truly worth. So I suggest keeping it and wait for it to pop up on the internet, or to make a deck around it."

"No thanks. I'll just use it as a bookmark then." She paid for her candies and soda with a large smile on her face and thanked Geek Boy before opening the door. She wished she hadn't opened it, as a surge of hot air embraced her, causing her clothes to get supercharged with warmth, and made her skin feel nasty. She quickly closed it, welcoming the wonderful air conditioning the shop luckily had, and looked back at Brief, who looked at the computer on the counter.

"Oh wow. It says that today is supposed to be around one hundred and ten degrees today. I'd be surprised if anyone actually shows up today." Brief grabbed the stack of cards that were next to the register and sat at one of the tables, pushing the cards away from one another. She glanced at the cards, wondering why there were so many different ones for a simple game. At least, it must of been simple, if the cartoon show (she didn't even DARE to call that series an anime, as anything 4Kids touches dies, just like Tokyo Mew Mew) was targeted for kids. She sat down a few chairs away from him on the opposing side, taking a drink of one of her sodas and pulled out a candy bar to munch on.

Plop

Plop

Shuffle

Plop

Shuffle

Psh

"Damn, I need to work on my shuffling..." Brief muttered as he picked up the cards that fell. Stocking pulled one of his cards to him, a Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis, and couldn't stop herself from looking at her own card. What were so different between the two, considering one was black while the other was brown? Their images were obviously different, and both were equally shiny in their own ways, so either one had a special use, or the other could be usedin certain situations.

"Oi, Geek Boy." Her words made Brief hit his head against the table, bouncing even more cards to the floor. That, or it could of been the cold tone of her voice, she wasn't sure. She was delighted to see him rubbing the top of his head though, and smirked as he dropped his cards on the table. "This card." She pointed to the black one. "What is it, how is it different from this card, and why is it so different?"

"Well Stocking-sa, I mean Stocking, this is a Xyz monster, while yours is an effect monster. Both are using a different star system, and both have unique requirements to use them, though they're usually worth bringing out to the field. Xyz monsters are fairly new, which require certain level monsters in order to bring out, in which the sacrificed monsters become units. Think of the units as a dollar you can use to buy a candy, or candies if the monster have different effects."

"Wouldn't that mean that, once I run out of units that I can't buy anymore candy, I mean use its effect?"

"For the most part, though some Xyz monsters have effects that are permanent." Stocking nodded, looking past Brief's head and noticed all of the various Yu-Gi-Oh card sets that were behind the counter. Small boxes, large ones with anime characters on it, and several loose packs were the things she easily spotted, though she wondered what the metal tins were all about. For her part, she was able to keep herself calm and acted as if she wasn't curious, since she didn't want to invest into something she'd only come into contact with once.

"So, I take it you know how to bring these cards out?" Once Brief nodded, she pointed to his deck. "Show me then."

"Its not that easy." Brief replied, and took a note out of her book and pointed at Darkness Neosphere. "The best way to show you is by having a match against you, and you need to make a deck first before we can play." She pointed at one of the boxes on the shelf behind the counter, causing him to turn and sigh. "That's an okay choice, only because its a starter deck, which is good since you're playing for the first time, but those decks are only purchased for novice players or for particular cards. That one in particular is purchased for Number 39: Utopia, a Xyz monster that has a defensive ability yet a good attack base."

"Geek Boy," Stocking glared at him, "I trust you, okay?" She couldn't believe she said those words. Why, oh **why** would she say something so, she didn't know, _ROMANTIC_ to him? It was completely not her style to say such things! Then again, she didn't want to hear him compare and talk about the decks on the shelves. She wanted to get one, see what his cards could do, and MAYBE, just _maybe_ accept the fact that Brief was simply allowing himself to have a bit of a childhood with these cards. He nodded and bought the deck for her, a kind gesture indeed, and told her to read the mini rulebook it came with as he used the bathroom. The term "mini" suited the book perfectly, as it was only sixteen tiny pages with little words and blown up images that showed various steps as to how to activate certain cards, how to start a draw phase, and other steps.

After looking through the rule book, she examined her cards and looked at Darkness Neosphere, reading its effects rather than focusing on its contradicting image that made her head hurt. She noticed that the deck Brief bought was mostly a warrior deck, leaving her no room to add Darkness Neosphere without it being a liability than a useful addition. It wasn't long before Brief came out of the bathroom and told her to put her Xyz monsters to the side, as they weren't to be shuffled into the main deck. She then shuffled her deck, like he did, except she found it harder to separate all of the cards than he could. Was it possibly due to his cards being in card sleeves? Once they stopped shuffling, he allowed her to go first, and pulled out a calculator to keep track of both of their life points.

Much to her surprise, she lost. BADLY.

She hadn't lost so badly for years, the only time being when she and Panty were little girls and Panty got to lick the batter off of the spoon from one of mother's famous cakes. He took her out swiftly, using his deck to bring out either a Xyz monster, such as Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, or a white card that was known as a synchro monster. She figured her loss was a fluke, as Geek Boy couldn't of made something so great, and asked for another match, all of which he was happy to provide.

She lost again, and she could of sworn the match was much shorter than the first game. She even brought out a Cyber Dragon on her first turn thanks to Brief having the Xyz monster Grenosaurus out! Only, when she attacked, he used a trap card she didn't recognize, destroying her attacking monster, and left her defenseless next turn, which Brief took full advantage of. Angered at what had happened, she asked for another game, only to get a similar result, even if she did last a bit longer, but it got her thinking. Was she lasting longer because she was getting better, or was it because he, Geek Boy, was HOLDING BACK?

Anarchy Stocking was not a little girl. She also wasn't one to accept anyone's pity. It was one of the most insulting things anyone could do to her.

"Brief, how much do those packs, starter decks, and tins cost?" She asked with a smile on her face, hiding the killer intent she felt at that moment. When he told her the prices, her grin grew much, much larger.

She would TRIUMPH over Geek Boy, and would make him eat the very dirt she stepped on.

-Author Note-

Hiya one and all! This is the second to my P&S crossover stories, a Yu-Gi-Oh series story! Not many things would be brought in from the anime/manga series though, as it would be based off the cards, maybe some magical who-ha, and duels between many characters, Oc and main cast of P&S. I have plenty more crossover ideas in my mind, so don't be surprised if you see a horde of them infecting the crossover section within a few days.

Again, like with my P&S/Evangelion story, I'll continue writing this up to a certain point, and, depending what you readers think of it, will determine if I keep it as a main project, stop writing it at once, or end it with a cliche ending and leave it alone. Your opinions count readers! So continue reading, review, and go on and make some stories for others to read!

Until next time!


	2. Arc 1: To Try and Try Again

Stocking sat on the floor of her room, staring intently at the four stacks of cards that surrounded the fifth pile of cards, which was directly in front of her. That fifth pile was the most important, as the few cards of that pile were the cards she was going to keep for her deck of cards. What cards was she trying to make a deck of, one might of asked the Goth? Most would assume Tarot cards, a unique art that she personally knew that she didn't have the skill, patience, or subtly when it came to telling people information or her opinions, no matter how cruel they were.

She, Stocking Anarchy, was trying to create a Yu-Gi-Oh deck, in order to beat Briefers Rock, someone she knew. He ran a card shop with his uncle, someone Stocking hadn't met before, and had an itching feeling that Brief was the one that was actually running the shop, as she doubted that his family actually made dealings with Heaven. Still, despite that fact, she wanted to beat Brief, otherwise known as Geek Boy, in order to get over her curiosity with the card game that was _much_ harder than the show made it seem.

Sure, she knew that the creators had to cut corners somewhere in order to keep kids focused on their episodes, but actually playing the game was much harder and annoying than she ever thought possible. It was because, despite getting a factory made deck, she lost to Brief and his custom made deck of cards he must of used from other sets. "That wouldn't work" was her initial thought, and yet each card seemed to of had a purpose to push his deck towards bringing out strong monsters that she wasn't prepared to go up against.

She WOULDN'T lose to him anymore, she told herself. So she bought as many packs, decks, and collector tins that she could, and separated the cards that she got in each of them into a pile rating from usefulness to her right to the useless to her left. Sadly, most of the cards she got were in the useless pile, as they worked for certain card archtypes, such as Watts, Six Samurai, and Dark World, cards that she wasn't mostly insterested in, with the exception of Dark World. She loved Goldd and Sillva for their special summoning effects, though there was something dull about the structure deck, as if it was lacking something, hence why she took it apart.

So, she took out those two cards, and put them on top of Darkness Neosphere, as well as several common cards that came out of the structure deck Brief gave to her, such as Swords of Revealing Light, Mystical Space Typhoon, Giant Rat, Trap Hole, Magic Cylinder, and Fissure. The only rare cards she kept from that deck was Number 39: Utopia, as its effect was everything that Brief described, making it a good defensive card as well as a great offensive attacker. There were other cards, such as the two in between the useful and useless stacks, which were the monsters and trap cards that she was stuck picking between. There were just TOO many possibilities for her to pick through, so she wasn't sure as to what she wanted in her deck.

"Ugh!" Stocking laid on the ground with her hands covering her eyes. Why did this game have to be so freaking complicated? These things were just small cut outs of paper, some being shiny while others were just pathetic and cute. "How could he of made such a great deck! Must help running a card shop and all..." Stocking turned to see her cell phone, a device she rarely used for anything unless it was related to buying sweets on demand, and reached out for it. She took several minutes just staring at the device, mentally asking herself if she should do what she was thinking of doing. It wasn't anywhere as hot as it was yesterday, so she wouldn't have a problem staying at the card shop for a long time, and she still had plenty of cash, since she was more mature with saving her money.

"Oi, STOCKING!" Panty's voice rang throughout the walls of the church. Lord, did she have to have such a loud, annoying voice when she screamed? "Do you have any more whipped cream? I want Alex here to make me a special sundae with his banana!" Well, her sister was another reason as to why she could go to the shop. With her mind finally made up, she placed all of her cards in several of the tins she purchased, leaving the stack of cards that were assured spots in her deck in her pocket, and grabbed a can of whipped cream out of her hidden mini-fridge.

After placing the can in front of her sister's door, as well as shouting through the door so Panty knew it was there, she hurried out of the church and drove towards the shop with a small frown. She knew that Brief wasn't going to get some sick pleasure at seeing her return to the card shop, and he wasn't a jerk, unlike some of his other nerdy friends at school. So what was causing her to frown at the thought of him working there today? It didn't matter, as she needed to make her deck good enough to beat his out of the high throne that he must of made for himself, so she could claim it as her own!

Then she would rid herself of her cards, hopefully making her money back, and never touch the cards ever again.

Getting to the card shop wasn't hard, nor did it take long at all, as today wasn't glaring with hot air, so many of the humans in Daten City were most likely at the mall or visiting the beach, leaving the roads clear for her to get there faster. The sooner she beat him at his own game, the sooner she could stop visiting him outside of their "extended" summer break, if you counted the fact that every student in Daten High would have to repeat their year due to the massive destruction of the school the Akuma sisters caused in its walls. Yes, she and her sister had a hand in it, but that didn't mean that they were the ones that made the damage to KILL people...

_'Bah, what does it matter?'_ Stocking parked See Through several parking spots away from the shop. From what she saw from her position, the shop seemed mostly dark, though that could of been thanks to the tinted windows, with something moving inside._ 'It isn't as if its our fault for what the Akumas do. They're not my sisters.'_ With a small nod to herself, she got out of See Through with the tins in hand and walked into the shop, hoping to keep herself calm and acting natural to whoever was inside.

Sadly, she didn't expect to get inside be blocked by a gigantic white poster, which caused her to react rather poorly and take a jump back. She didn't know what came over her, possibly the fact that she actually got scared of such a random encounter, but she found herself flicking her shoes at the holder of the poster, preparing to rip off Stripe 1&2 if need be. Suddenly, the large poster fell to the ground, revealing Geek Boy with his mouth open in shock, though, to be honest, she couldn't tell as long as his eyes were hidden by his puff of hair.

"Y-Yatta! I'm so sorry Stocking! I didn't mean to bump into you at all. I swear!" Brief exclaimed as he pointed to the poster. She couldn't see what the full image of, but she was sure that she saw the words Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic the Gathering in bold print. "I was just trying to get this poster out of the door by myself, which is hard, since its much larger than I expected it to be..."

"What is this for?" Stocking asked in a quick motion, trying to hold back her curiosity for the poster. Brief picked up the poster and unrolled it, revealing that she was right at seeing the names of those particular card games, though she found herself reading what was next to each name. She didn't know a thing about Magic, so she didn't have a clue as to what Core 2013 meant, since it was still 2012, but the Battle Packs logo was interesting. "What is this set, something big?"

"Yea, but not so big at the same time." Brief spoke, confusing her a bit. He moved past her to her right and tapped his foot on two bricks three times, causing them to rise high enough for him to put the poster up on a banner post that must of been prepared today, as she was sure that she didn't see such a thing yesterday. Before she could ask about how he made the bricks rise from the ground, he continued to talk. "You see, Battle Packs are cheap packs that only have five cards, but go for two dollars a pack. Each pack tends to come with a spell, trap, and monster card, leaving the remaining two spots for any rare or starfoil card to take those spots. With ten packs, you can prepare a quick, semi-decent deck with enough cards to swap out cards if necessary, as well as possibly get any Xyz monsters."

"Did you have those yesterday?" She found herself getting curious at the thought of the product, as that pack series was sure to have something good for her to beat Brief's deck with. She was sure of it. Brief's response to her question was odd, as he shrugged and walked to the door, opening it so she could enter first. A kind gesture, sure, but she didn't thank him for performing a dead act.

"We didn't have them for sale yesterday, though we've had them in the store for about a month now. If you came about a week earlier, you could of signed up for the pre-release, an event that, for about twenty bucks, you could of gotten twelve packs free, a promo card as thanks for participating in the event, and prizes depending on how many matches you won with your deck." As interesting as it was, the thought of beating Brief in front of strangers and seeing their reactions, she shook her head and pulled out a sucker, instantly popping it into her mouth before sitting down. With her tins soon on the table, and her guaranteed stack of cards in front of her, she looked at Brief with stern eyes and pointed in front of her.

"Sit."

"Wha? But I need to-"

"Sit._ NOW_." She couldn't help but to smirk as he sat in front of her, his eyes glancing over the tins that she brought with her. Since she couldn't show him how her deck ran, she explained her situation to him, hoping that he wouldn't commit the cards she was going to use to memory to better prepare his deck for their next game. He nodded after she explained, and began looking through her cards, including the ones in the tins, and began to spread out the cards of her deck.

"An alright set up so far." Brief started off as he pulled out a stack of spell and trap cards from one of her tins. He began pulling out several that she looked at, but didn't know what they meant, or saw the purpose of. "You need more removal, as there are duelists that love having monsters in their graveyards, may it be for spam summoning or to power up their own creatures. So, with that in mind, you're going to need particular removal cards. This one, Bottomless Trap Hole, is perfect for taking out bigger monsters, as it can only be activated if the summoned monster has sixteen hundred attack points or more, then its removed from the game. There is a bigger version of Bottomless called Giant Trap Hole, but that is more seen for a last maneuver, as it destroys all monsters on the field if the opponent summons two or more monsters at the same time.

"If you don't have enough removal, then you could make due with Adhesion Trap Hole, which cuts the attack of the summoned monster in half, or Compulsory Evacuation Device, which forces any of their monsters to go back to their hand. Most players tend to targer Xyz, Fusion, or Synchro monsters with this trap card, as if forces it back to the extra deck, but also makes the materials Xyz monsters have, if it still has any, to go to the graveyard. You have good stalling and card destruction material in the spell department, but until I get a better understanding of what you want your deck to do, I can't help you Stocking."

"What...I want my deck to do?" She asked, unsure as to what he meant. They were just cards correct? It wasn't as if they were alive and were in need of diaper changes. She then remembered how Darkness Neosphere's breasts blinked, revealing curious red orbs under its eyelids, and shivered. So maybe one card or so was alive, which shouldn't of been odd since she was an Angel, but not all of them were like that, right?

"Well, you can't just mash up all of your strongest monsters in a deck and expect them to do everything. You need to make your deck with a purpose in mind for what you want it to do. Magic the Gathering, a popular card game, has a theme to each intro, event, and duel deck that they produce, allowing the fans to get a general understanding of the world of Magic, the mechanics, and the history of tribes and game changing events. However, unlike Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh explains little in story, except for when you make your deck, as it shows the world what you are, whether you know it or not.

"You need to balance a deck with a general thought in mind as you look at your cards. Do you want to cause your opponent to screw themselves by attacking you? Shall you make all of their traps worthless, or is it the spells you want to rip apart? Shall you only have a small group of monsters taking dominance over the field, or shall you continuously bring out tokens to replace the monsters that are killed, allowing your to summon anything with the tributes you now have? These are general things to think about as you create a deck, as it will be the thing that keeps you winning or losing matches in the long run."

Stocking, for her part, didn't really know what to say to Geek Boy, and he truly showed how geeky he could be, after everything he said. She looked down at her spare cards, wondering what she could do with her cards if there was nothing inside her stacks that she would like to use in any circumstance, as they would do nothing for her but take up space. She didn't notice that Brief left the table for several moments, causing her to widen her eyes in surprise when she saw him place a thick blue binder to her right. "What is this?" Brief opened the binder, revealing many holographic cards that seemed to be organized by level and type, causing her to wonder if it was him or his uncle that made the binder in such an order.

"Any hobby shop can have packs, decks, and boxes, but only true, friendly card shops offer their customers the card binders. These are many useful, multi-use monster cards that I believe will suit your tastes quite finely. You can, if you want, look at our other binders, even if they're not of a type you'd normally look at, as you might find something that does something better than a card you already have. Now, please excuse me Stocking-san, as I have to bring out the new packs for sale today."

_'Again with the suffixes...'_ Stocking thought to herself as she watched Brief walk into one of the other rooms. She looked at the binder before her and smiled at the cards that looked at her back. She was already seeing several cards that would work for her, and she was only looking at the first PAGE! She was already loving the cards, and she had to thank Geek Boy for it. _'That Geek Boy.'_

* * *

She didn't expect to be waiting an hour or so for Brief to return from stocking the shelves, but even she couldn't stop herself from laughing at the comical way he brought the boxes out from the storage room. He stacked them quite badly as he carried them, surprising her at how he could place the large, factory boxes on the ground without having them fall over like a spilled drink. She had to give him credit though, as he took hold of many boxes each trip, much more than any normal geek would take at a time.

Stocking didn't use her time just watching him carry the boxes though, as she took her time looking through the Fiend cards to add to her deck. She didn't really decide as to what the deck was going to be based on exactly, such as a burn deck or a swarming deck, but she did pick out what she thought would benefit her deck, and hoped that it would be enough to help her out. She also looked through her stack of cards, making sure that there weren't anything she would want to keep, and found several cards she overlooked that would of helped her nicely.

As insurance, she took the time to look through several other binders, though she stopped Brief a few times before simply picking them up without consent. If what he spoke of deck styles was true, then there had to be a few that shut down Dark type monsters, and that would do her no good. She had to get rid of some of her monsters, such as Giant Rats, in order to make more room for her Fiends, and even with the cards removed she had more than the minimum amount, but had no ideas as to what she could take out. The cards she picked seemed so good to her, so maybe she could get away with having more than the minimum? Her question would soon be answered as Brief walked over to her with a tired smile on his face and two cans of Pepsi in hand.

"Here you go." He began as he handed her one of the cans. "I figured we both could use a drink."

"You look as if you need it more than I do, but thanks." Stocking opened her can and drank a sip, enjoying the cool, sugary liquid that swirled down her throat. Why couldn't everything in the world taste so delicious like Pepsi? She looked over at her deck, wondering if she should work on it some more, when she saw Brief bring out his deck from who knows where. Was she ready to go up against him with her deck?

"I take it you finished your deck Stocking?" She looked at her deck once more before nodding. She had to experiment with playing with the deck anyway, as she wouldn't find out what needed to be fixed until she used it at least once in her life. She shuffled her deck to the best of her ability, frowning as she found it harder to slip the cards between one another without threat of bending the cards, but kept her face composed and place her deck on the table, waiting for Brief to finish shuffling his cards. Once they shuffled each other's decks and returned them, Brief pulled out a silver dollar and flipped it, asking her to call it as it was in the air. Sadly, she called wrong, allowing Brief to get first pick of who goes first; however, much to her surprise and annoyance, Brief told her to go first.

"I draw." Her opening hand could of been better, as the only two monsters she had at the moment wouldn't do her any good on the first turn. Hopefully, the card she drew would give her an extra hand. "I play **Allure of Darkness**, allowing me to draw two cards in exchange for removing a Dark monster from my hand." She took the **Dark Hunter** out of her hand and placed it beside her graveyard, mostly since she didn't have any where else to put it. "And it paid off," She looked at Brief and smirked, "as I play **Nightmare's Steelcage**, preventing either of us for attacking for two turns! I'll set two face downs before ending my turn."

"Y-Yatta Stocking! That is an excellent opening hand! My turn!" Brief happily said as he drew his card, causing her to wonder what he would do next. "I'll start my turn with **Reinforcement of the Army**, allowing me to add one level 4 or lower Warrior type monster from my deck to my hand, then shuffling it!" He quickly pulled out a card from the bottom of the deck, causing her to wonder if she didn't shuffle his deck good enough. "Then, by sending a monster card from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon** Quickdraw Synchron**, and I follow up by normal summoning **Goblindbergh**. I'm using its special ability to special summon **Shield Warrior**, though I must put my **Goblindbergh** in defense position.

"Now, I'll tune my **Quickdraw Synchron** to **Shield Warrior** to bring out **Chevalier De Fleur**." The synchro monster's art work was stunning, though she wasn't much of a fan for the color pink or roses. While it wasn't one of the cards that was used against her the day before, she knew that any card he had was bad, so she had to end it quickly. Luckily, her opening hand provided her just the tool for it.

"I activate my trap card, **Trap Hole**, on your **Goblindbergh**, canceling out your synchro summon!" The look on Brief's face was amusing, one of shock and confusion, and it made her happy to see such a reaction, even if she had to picture his eyes to see it. Then, instead of getting angry or annoyed as she expected, he clapped. Clapped, of all reactions!

"That was awesome Stocking! You stopped me from completing my normal first turn synchro summoning! I wonder what else you have at your disposal Stocking-san?" She couldn't stop herself from glaring at him as he declared that he ended his turn. When would he stop adding suffixes to her name? She drew her card and was indifferent about drawing Level Warrior, though it would be useful on her next turn.

"I summon **Level Warrior** in attack mode." It was a silly monster, wearing an outfit that a super hero would wear, with its mask being a giant star. Who would design such a thing? "Thanks to one of its effects, since you have a monster out before I did, it becomes a level four monster. Your turn Geek Boy."

"Alright Stocking!" After he drew his card, he smiled and placed a spell card on his side of the field. "I activate **The Warrior Returning Alive**, letting me bring back **Goblindbergh** to my hand. I resummon him-"

"And I'll counter your summon with my second **Trap Hole**."

"Wow, you know your stuff don't you?" Brief placed the monster to his grave, yet still had his silly grin on his face. Why won't he frown! "I'll put Quickdraw in defense mode and end my turn." Thanks to **Nightmare's Steelcage's** effect, it was now destroyed since its been two turns, meaning either one of us could attack the other. Depending on my next card, it could mean that I have a chance to Xyz summon, or to tribute sommon something.

"I draw," Stocking nodded at the card she drew, "and I set one card down before tributing my** Level Warrior** for** Evil Hero Malicious Edge**." Brief nodded, causing her to wonder if he already knew of its tributing effect or not. Either way, she continued her turn. "I attack** Quickdraw Synchron** with it, inflicting piercing damage to you."

"Putting me at 6800 life points. You_ are_ learning how to be a better duelist, and in such short time too! Do you end?" Hearing that got her angry, but she had nothing else to play, so she ended her turn, looking at the two cards in her hand. "I draw and summon **Photon Crusher** in attack position!" Despite having two thousand attack points, her Evil Hero had twenty six hundred, putting it at a disadvantage. Did he want her to attack it? "I end my turn. Now what will you do?"

_'Okay, he is really starting to annoy me.'_ She drew her card, welcoming one of her aces to her hand before looking at **Photon Crusher**. If she attacked it, he would most likely do something from the hand, but if she didn't, it would provide him with a tribute to synchro summon. She didn't like the choices in front of her one bit, and sighed as she made her decision. "I'm going to attack your monster with my own."

"I activate the effect of the** Shield Warrior** in my Graveyard." Brief said as he removed the declared card from the graveyard pile. "By removing it, I can prevent my monster from being destroyed, though I still lose life points, putting me at 6200. Do you end?"

"Yes." Stocking glared at the stupid warrior card. Even if he still took the damage, it still left him with a tribute or synchro material.

"I draw, set one card down, and summon my second **Goblindbergh**! Activating its effect to special summon my **Shine Knight** in defense mode!"

"I activate my trap card **Compulsory Evacuation Device**, sending **Photon Crusher** back to your hand!" Brief, instead of smiling, shook his index finger at her. But why would he do such a thing?

"If you waited a bit longer, you could of used that to get rid of the bigger bad guy I was about to bring out. Patience is a key to the game Stocking-san, but you certainly know your triggers well!" He chuckled as he ended his turn, giving her control of the game. She wanted to rip his heart out from his chest for the suffix, as well as talking to her as if he was a sage. The nerve of him! Luckily, her choice for having over forty cards was paying off, as her second Compulsory found its way to her hand. Still, she needed to take down one of his monsters, so he couldn't go back to bringing out his larger monster.

"I'll attack your **Shine Knight** with my Evil Hero."

"And you activated my trap Stocking, **Kunai with Chain**! Not only is your hero put into defense position, but my Knight gets a five hundred attack point boost." She didn't like that one bit. Evil Hero had an average defense, being eighteen hundred, but it wasn't anything that could save it from the rare monsters Brief had at his control. All she could do was end her turn, hoping that her trap card would do its job well. "I draw, and summon back my **Photon Crusher**, and overlay the three level four monsters on my field to Xyz summon **Number 10: Illumknight**."

"Sorry Briefers, but you triggered my second Compulsory, sending your knight in shining armor back to your extra deck, as well as leaving you defenseless." Brief ended his turn, and his open field was looking quite charming to her. The card she just drew would only add icing to the cake known as Brief's defeat! "I activate** Swords of Revealing Light**, preventing you from attacking for three turns, and I change my Evil Hero to attack mode and go in for 2600 life points. Your turn Brief."

"Oh, this is so exciting! With only 3600 life points, you only need two more attacks to defeat me!" Brief drew his card and placed a monster in defense mode, a minor issue for Stocking at the moment. She would win this game in a few measly turns, and him ending his turn only brought it faster. The monster she drew was useless at the moment, so she didn't summon anything and attacked, inflicting one thousand piercing damage to him, putting him at 2600 life points. The next card he drew would decide the match for her. "I draw and set a monster down. Your turn Stocking-chan."

_'Chan, isn't that a suffix term for endearment?'_ Stocking thought to herself as she drew her next card. It mattered not, the card she drew, as she attacked once more, destroying his face down monster, a **Zubaba Knight**, and infliced 1700 damage to him, putting him at nine hundred. He drew his card, placed it in the spell and trap card zone, and ended his turn. Victory was hers! She didn't care about the second **Chaos Necromancer** she drew, with the first still in her hand from turn one, and attacked with her Evil Hero."

"I activate my trap **Sakuretsu Armor**, destroying your Evil Hero!"

"WHAT!" Stocking shouted, slamming her hands on the table. She was close, so FUCKING close to killing him, and he pulled such a cheap shot! How could he? How could he! "I end!" Brief, though he frowned, nodded and drew he card. He placed the card he drew back onto his deck, confusing her.

"You win this match, as the card I drew wouldn't of done a thing. Time for game two." Stocking looked at his hand, slowly focusing onto his deck and glared at it. He must of gave up due to her outburst. Yes, that had to be it! He was just fooling her into thinking she actually won a game! Well it was on! Well, it would of been, had it not been for her cell phone to ring. She saw that the caller was Garterbelt and picked up, knowing that she would regret it if she didn't, and sighed.

"Yes Garter?" Stocking allowed the man to yell through the phone, even if she didn't deserve the headache he was going to cause her, and listened. "So, ghost is at movie theatre, you want me to go there, and Panty is doing WHAT exactly? Well why couldn't you of had me go get the groceries while having Panty go to kill the ghost? She has all of those movie contacts out there that would love to give her a ride in more ways than one? Ugh, FINE!" She ended the call, looking at Brief and his worried expression as she packed all of her cards away and gave him ninety dollars. At his widened mouth, she took back the roll of bills and forced it into his mouth. "Keep the change!" She turned away and hurried out of the shop before he could say a word to her. She always had to do the exterminating as Panty got the easy tasks from Garterbelt! She wasn't the one that helped him with bondage. She wasn't the one that did laundry or dishes! She wasn't the one that freaking has to get up close and personal with ghosts every single time! **THAT. WAS. HER ROLE!** She jumped into See Through, surprisingly placed the tins carefully on the floor board on the passenger side, and drove off in a mad dash.

She had a ghost to put her frustrations upon!

-Author Notes-

Hello readers! As usual, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, P&S, Magic the Gathering, or any other references that make their way into this story. With that pesky bit of information out of the way, lets get down to business shall we? I thank everyone for reading the story and for the few that placed a review, as your opinions are what is keeping me writing this crossover story. The ending, while something I wouldn't of ended the chapter on, is like that in case I do end the story at this point. I still need to think and write more crossovers to get opinions of! Anyway, now onto the reviewers, who I thank for their imput.

**HotelKatz**: Haha, I would approve of any romance that happened from a card game too. Might be more than a bit though, or it could be less, if I keep them as friends and go for a canon-like story.

**Blood Brandy**: I understand your pain with the new anime. I mainly watched it when there was nothing else on when I woke up early on Saturdays, and when I couldn't get my lazy legs to work! I know that one particular card will become a spirit, but I'm not sure on any others with the main cast at the moment.

**NoirRenamon**: Thank you for your review and opinion, as your review is awesome as well!

I do hope that everyone enjoyed the Stocking and Brief's first written duel. Its not the first time I wrote out a duel, but it is hard to do if you don't have a few spare cards for the extra deck... (Looks over to my Acid Golem deck.) Why did I give you my Utopias deck? And yes, I make, duel against, and write out the decks and their matches as I play the decks against one another, which is hard to do unless you have a table next to you since the game takes plenty of space, that the characters in this story will use. If you have a deck list that is fairly cheap, I'll buy the cards and use your deck against one of our two main stars! So please, despite me wanting a Tour Guide of the Underworld, no expensive cards. Also, before I forget, I apologize for the bolding of the card names, but I felt that it was necessary for some type of marker to be done to point out a card, in case I used cards that someone doesn't recognize.

Either way, thank you readers for reading! Thanks to those who have reviewed, and I do hope that I continue to get more reviews from more people, as your opinions count! Until next time everyone.


	3. Arc 1: To Declare a Challenge

Today was Sunday, making it four days since Stocking went to the Card Buffet, the card shop that Briefers Rock worked at, and it seemed that, ever since she left the shop in anger, she hadn't been able to calm down in the slightest. Garterbelt, an agent of Heaven that is housing her and her older sister Panty, told her to take out a ghost that her sister could of taken out, since she was the one that was slipping her ghost exterminating duties. Instead, her sister made some excuse as to why she couldn't go take out the ghost, forcing Stocking to take out the ghost, which was a waste her precious time.

_'The damn thing wasn't even worth three heavens.'_ After she "purified" the ghost, she found herself staying away from the church and from Brief, though each had a different reason for her avoidance. She was utterly pissed with cleaning up her older sister's problems, especially when it came to her duties as an angel of Heaven, and she knew for a fact that Garterbelt wouldn't defend her reasons, nor would she willingly go against her, hence her reason for staying away from them. She didn't need to get an even worse headache by staying at the church, and she knew that they'd simply ask where she was for most of that day.

Brief, on the other hand, didn't do anything as annoying as what Garterbelt and Panty did, but it was bad in its own right. He gave up, instead of allowing her the pleasure in landing the killing blow for the rest of his life points in the first serious Yu-Gi-Oh card game she ever played, and she had a feeling that he went easy on her. HER! You don't go _easy_ on Stocking Anarchy. If you want to go easy, you go to Panty, everyone knows that. If you mess with her, you have to be yourself in every way, including being blunt and honest, even if its crude and disgusting to the point of making others go green.

She didn't know why it made her so pissed, but what he did irritated her enough to stay away from the card shop. It was a good thing that she always kept her own bank card for emergencies, or else she was sure that Panty would of stolen it and emptied her account long ago. Plus, it also helped that she kept her card in a hidden pocket on the inside of her boots, a place that no regular person or angel would look through for a credit card. So, she stayed at a nice hotel and managed to get one of the service boys working here to give her free sweets whenever she wanted them, allowing her to get maximum comfort during her stay.

Stocking didn't use her days at the hotel to simply relax; however, as she used most of her days to research different deck strategies that she could try to impliment in her own deck. She still had the issue of lowering the number of cards in the deck, but she was sure that what she had wouldn't cause her much of a problem. She looked up the few cards she knew that Geek Boy used and had in his deck and found herself feeling rather lucky that she wasn't that skilled at shuffling her deck, for she was sure that he would of succeeded in his synchro summoning if she had shuffled any differently. Heck, she wasn't even sure if she would of survived if he managed to get out his Xyz monster the first time, as as long as he had that Kunai with Chain waiting for her, it would killed her Evil Hero, forcing her to use her Chaos Necromancers as sacrificial lambs to its slaughter.

It was odd, she realized, that out of the cook books, websites, and TV shows she could of been watching or reading to keep her happy and busy, learning about a card game was filling the role of happiness quite nicely. Still, despite how happy it made her, she found herself currently looking at an odd web page that loaded onto her screen as she came back from the bathroom. Before the new screen came up, it had the card information for Angel 07, an effect Fairy type monster that, when tribute summoned, cancelled the effects of effect monsters on the field. Its uses would mostly depend on what was on both sides of the field, but she couldn't help but to ponder the thought of adding it to her deck, at least to cancel out the effects of Brief's monsters more so than her own.

"Congratulations Stocking Anarchy! You have won yourself a free duel disk, courtesy of the Dueling Corporation Kaiba Corp." Stocking mumbled to herself as she reviewed the information in front of her eyes, trying to spot some type of scam notification from her laptop, or some out of the norm piece of text displayed on the pop up itself. When she realized that she couldn't find anything, she shrugged and began typing in her information, only making the "duel disk", if it truly was one, to be shipped to the Card Buffet, rather than to the church, where Panty and Garterbelt would most likely destroy anything inside in.

On second thought...

"Anyway," Stocking shook her head as she sat up on the hotel bed, "I think its time for me to get out of here and turn back on my cell phone." In order for her to have true peace and quiet, Stocking turned off her cell phone and plucked out the sim card within so no one would be able to track her. She also stayed away from many social networking sites, as she didn't want to get emails and messages from Panty or Garterbelt. She began putting her phone back together, wondering how may calls she got from her sister and Garterbelt, as she was sure that the two would get nothing done without her. She noticed, when her phone was done loading all of its necessary updates, that she had a good number of calls, most of which came from Garterbelt, but there was a caller she didn't expect to see.

Briefers Rock.

Why would he, of all people, be calling her? Where he got her number, she'd never know, but seeing that he called her made her feel various emotions, most of them being negative, with a slight curious thought. If he called, then did it mean that he left her a voice mail? A few clicks of her keypad later, and she was looking at the notification of a single voice mail from the Geek Boy. She looked through the other voice mail notifications and saw that, with the exception of three messages from Garterbelt, Brief was the only one to call. Thoughts ran through her sweets infested mind, thoughts of why he would call her, what he went through to get her number, among other thoughts and questions.

_'Well, I won't learn anything as long as I simply stare at my phone.'_ She pressed the voice mail icon next to his name, and quickly turned on the speaker function. She did have to get dressed out of her pajamas after all, and it was hard to change with a phone pressed between your cheek and shoulder.

**"H-Hi Stocking. Its me, Brief. I managed to get your number from P-Panty's phone without her knowing. She came to my house and forcefully dragged me with her in the white van we saw Master G use during the lingerie run in order to help her fight against some ghosts. She dropped her phone during one of the battles and I added your number to my phone. I hope you're not mad at me for calling y-you."** Stocking shook her head at the information, wondering how stupid Panty was for involving Brief in a ghost battle. He could do nothing more than provide a distraction, and not even a good one at that. **"Apparently you've been gone for several days from the church, and both Garter and Panty have been wanting you to come home. They stopped trying to call when they noticed that it went straight to voicemail, but I, well, I wanted to make sure that you were alright. Call when-"**

**"Message marked for deletion. There are no more messages from this individual." **Stocking quickly got dressed and packed the small bag of things she brought with her with her things. She knew that the card shop wouldn't be open, a piece of information she made sure to remember, so she knew that the only place she would be able to find Brief would be at his house, except she didn't _know_ where he lived.

_'Well, maybe I could wait out in front of the card shop and hope for the best?'_ Stocking nodded to herself as she walked out of her room, taking a glance back to mentally thank the comfortable room for caring for her in her time of need. Since she paid as the days went by, she didn't have to stop at the front desk of the hotel, but took the time to thank the woman at the counter anyway before leaving. See Through wasn't messed with in any fashion, something that made Stocking feel better about her current mission, and quickly left towards the Card Buffet.

She didn't know what was pushing her to see the geek, a person who was below her radar of potential friends on every level. He was a nobody, someone she would not be missing as she left to Heaven, and a slight reason to why people like her, who loved the lolita fashion, were insulted for being cosplaying otaku. He was pathetic, always being so submissive to Panty and her desires, even going to the point of letting her hurt him so she would have something to smile and laugh at, even if it was from such a cruel action.

So why did she want to search him out and ensure that she was okay?

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed his number, hoping that she could meet up with him and get the opportunity to beat him in a card game. It was strange, she pondered, how thinking about beating Geek Boy of all people could make her so happy to see him. Maybe it was because his reactions to everything reminded her of a stock cartoon character? The moment her phone connected to his, she was rewarded with loud screaming, possibly from a movie or a video game, and had to pull her ear away from the device for a few seconds.

_"S-Stocking?"_ She put the phone by her ear once more, and sighed when she heard the screaming die down. _"W-what are you calling for? Not that I mind or anything! I'm just surprised you aren't calling-"_

"Where are you?" She interrupted, not needing to hear him curve around the topic.

_"I'm at home, watching a movie since today is Sunday. Why?"_

"Because I want to beat you in Yu-Gi-Oh, and I'm not going to rest until I do so, idiot." Brief chuckled, an odd reaction to her declaration of battle. Was he on some kind of sugar high, since even she knew that Brief was too innocent to smoke the drug? "So I want you to open up the card shop so we can play there. There is no way I'm going to your place Geek Boy."

_"Yaaaa, I understand that Stocking, but I'm actually-"_ Brief stopped talking as the sound of loud knocking caught his attention. _"Hold on one moment Stocking."_ From her end, she continued to drive towards the Card Buffet, listening in on the murmurs and small chit chat Geek Boy was discussing on his side of the phone. It was annoying that he was wasting her minutes, even if she rarely used them in the first place, and she found herself tempted to hang up on him. He could waste his minutes by calling her instead, she figured; however, luck happened to intervine with her choice as Brief returned to the phone.

"Welcome back Geek Boy. Now, what were you saying?"

_"You won't BELIEVE this Stocking! I just got myself an actual working duel disk!"_ That peaked her curiosity, as she remembered the random ad that appeared on her laptop. Did he answer the same thing? If so, when, and how much could she get for selling it online?

"I take it you answered a pop up that appeared on your computer?" She asked. If he got a working one, such as the ones in the show, then she knew that she would be getting hers as well. Though, now that she thought about it, she hoped that it wasn't a trial model and they would be forced to return or buy the proper product once they came out to the public.

_"Yea, about three hours ago, and they want me to take them to the Card Buffet! So yes, we can meet over there as well. Its strange, as the man that came to the door said they had a delivery for the shop too, yet I didn't put anything down for an order."_

"That was my doing, actually." Stocking replied as she parked See Through a few spots away from the shop. "I didn't know if it was a scam or not, so I put down your shop as the drop off location. Better you to be screwed than I, especially if I told them to deliver it to the church."

_"...Thats cold of you Stocking-chan."_

"Again with the suffixes Brief? Don't make me rip you apart!" Brief chuckled before telling her that he was already out of the door and would be at the shop in fifteen minutes. This left her enough time to look through her deck, hoping that the slight alterations she made to it would be enough to produce a quicker defeat for Brief's deck. At worst, she took out everything and started building it from the ground up, even if it meant looking through all of the cards she had to do it.

She also wondered if she should make a second deck with her cards, as she was sure that there was something within it her collection that would make a decent deck to use against Brief when he gets used to her Fiend deck. She didn't like the thought, action, or situation of losing, but even she knew that it was always a possibility, and would do what she could to make him lose. Still, now wasn't the time for thinking about a new deck, as she was going to stick to her Fiend deck, and calmed herself down with some chocolate chip cookies she bought yesterday.

Fifteen minutes later, as Brief told her, a long, silver limousine pulled up to the Card Buffet, causing her eyes to trail to the vehicle in hopes of seeing who exactly was interested in the shops around the card shop. There were grocery stores to the left, a video rental shop to the right, and all the way at the corner of the strip of stores was a smoke shop that also served weed infested brownies. When she saw that it was Brief, surprisingly in a green short sleeve button up, and wore black jeans to compliment the shirt. When he developed a fashion sense, she most likely would never know, but she did know one thing.

"That's Kona Tachikagu, the current owner of Tachikagu electronics and technology!" Stocking turned off See Through, grabbed a shopping bag, usually kept in case Panty had to vomit due to over drinking, and filled it with her card tins. She left the car after she grabbed her deck, noticing that she took out the keys, and hurried to the door, where Brief and Kona turned towards her. The tall, fairly young looking man gave her a slight bow, causing her to stop mid-step and smiled.

He was the newest man to take control of the Tachikagu corporation, though that was due to his father, the previous owner of the company, fell ill for unknown reasons. Ever since, the company's focus changed from creating the newest flat screen to reengineering the way games were played by the consumer. Systems like the Nintendo Wii were able to install a projector that gave the player the ability to see things as if they were watching a movie in 3D, but without the glasses, and Sony systems had the latest virus protected software installed into every gaming device. There were some businesses that didn't like the new direction of the Tachikagu corporation, but all of the otaku and shut ins in the world were major fans of the new direction, causing their business to shoot into the skies in profit.

"Ah, I take it you are miss Stocking Anarchy, otherwise known as one of the Anarchy Angels of Daten City, correct?" How he knew of that, she didn't know, but she found herself simply nodding at him. If he knew that, then was it possible he knew of things that, while nothing truly important in the eyes of Heaven, would make it harder for her to live comfortably in Daten City?

"Yes, and am I to understand that I am to be getting a duel disk like Briefers here?"

"Why yes, yes you are! In fact, you're getting a custom model that only you can request for reproduction, as being one of the few that replied to our online posts. Think of it as our way of thanking you for supporting the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise." Stocking walked forward and watched as Kona pulled out a long suitcase and opened it, revealing a device that had the basic shape of the duel disks she saw in Yu-Gi-Oh and the Gx series. What made this device so different was the general shape of it, as it was curved like an angel's wing, which suited the device quite well, with the card slots taking the general shape of feathers. The gauntlet where the score counter, deck slot, and graveyard was located was black with a lace pattern around the corners and edges of it, reminding her of the Gothic dress she favored the most.

"Is...is this really for me?" Stocking asked as she walked closer to the suitcase. When he saw Kona nod, she reached in and grabbed the duel disk, smiling as she placed it on her left arm and tightened the mechanical clamp on it. It felt much lighter than she expected it to be, with most of the weight coming from the card slots on the wing, and moved her arm to various positions, as if she was practicing her katas.

"Not bad is it?" The man asked as he pointed to his limousine. "We're going to deliver several more unique models before heading back to the corporation, as we're preparing to reveal the duel disk system within a few days. Could I trouble you two to show up at the event I wish to hold?"

"I don't mind going," Brief spoke up, "As long as you could promote the Card Buffet somehow. We're going to be one of the reasons the duel disks will sell, correct?" Wow, Brief could act mature and make a proposition as well? Was the world going to end at any moment? Maybe this was all a dream and she'd wake up from it in seconds! Speaking of Brief, she focused on his duel disk and saw that it was shaped like an odd blend between an orange and silver shield that made up for the deck slot, and a gold sword with the hilt being the two parts of the deck slots that met together once in use, most likely a reference to his Warrior deck.

"Of course, of course! Shops like yours always help out both businesses!" Kona shook his hand before turning to her. Why would she go, as all she wanted to do was beat Brief in this damn complicated card game! As soon as she beat him, and made sure that he suffered a bit as well, she'd quit the game forever. Yep, that was her fool proof game plan for her current Yu-Gi-Oh obsessed mind.

Wait...

"I'll go, if you could do me one favor?" Kona nodded, causing her to smirk and point at Brief. She had to word this right, or else the man wouldn't accept her request. "I want you to allow Brief and I to showcase the duel disks at the event by dueling against one another!"

"Sugoi! Wait, **WHAT!**" Brief screamed out, stepping towards her with his jaw close to the ground. Kono, on the other hand, was smiling as he clapped his hands together. By the look on his face, he liked the idea as much as she did, and was about to agree.

"What a splendid idea Stocking! I'll have to set up some proper seating for our guests, include some complimentary gifts relating to the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, and, Oh!" Kona nodded his head and took a step into his limousine. He pointed at her and Brief before speaking once again. "I can't waste a second longer! Make sure to dress formally you two, and I'll send you two the proper dates and information you'll have to know. Until then!" In a dash, Kono left, nearly causing an accident on the way out of the parking lot, which left Stocking looking at Brief with a cheerful smirk on her face.

"Well, Brief, I'll see you in a matter of days at the big reveal. Be prepared for the worst." With that said, Stocking walked to See Through with the church on her mind. She had to return in order to make sure the dress she wore to what was to be her and Panty's movie was still as divine as it was when she wore it once upon a time, and hurried home. She had days to create the perfect deck, and she wouldn't waste more of her time simply looking at her enemy.

Sadly, she didn't know of the trouble that would be facing her shortly.

-Author Notes-

Hello readers and reviewers! Again, as usual, I don't own P&S, Yu-Gi-Oh, or any other references that I make in this story. I use them for the story itself, and not for my own personal gain. With that said, I can get on to the juicy stuff! I'm glad to see that people are still interested in this story, and I hope to see continued interest in it! This chapter is mostly of Stocking and her emotional view point, though the end of this chapter is a good build up for the next important part of the story. Now, time for review responses!

**NoirRenamon:** Thank you for your informative review. I will check out the story when I get a chance, and I've never been keen on creating cards. Sure, I created a list of cards for Kyuubi16 for one of his Naruto/Yu-Gi-Oh Gx crosses, but I'm not sure I'd use them myself. As for the Evil Hero deck, make me a deck list and I will try to build one in real life for Stocking to use.

**Nightmaster000:** Thanks for your review, and yes, if continued past a certain point, Stocking would most likely fall for Brief, unless I get her hooked to her canon boyfriend of a ghost.

Remember readers, your opinions for this story matter, and I do hope to see more responses to the story as more chapters come out for it. If you want a particular person to pick up on the card game, please tell me in a review! I do have a plan for what is to happen if I continue this story past the duel disk reveal plot, but any ideas you readers offer shall be taken into consideration. Thanks for reading everyone! Until next time, and please **review!**


	4. Arc 1: Checking Out the Competition

The event Kona told her about would be on Saturday, around seven at night, though she might possibly show up a half an hour late in order to cause a bit of a stir. While a tactic like that was something in Panty's territory, she wouldn't deny that she too loved to show off her looks just a little. She had her dress dry cleaned and prepared for that day, and she was going to look, act, and be the one to finally beat Brief, her Geek Boy of a friend. She'd have the biggest smile as he hung his head in defeat at her victory, and it would be so bittersweet she would have a picture of it framed on her wall. Thinking of such a wonderful thought made her recall of the events that happened after she left for home, causing her to frown slightly at the memories.

Nothing much changed when she made it home yesterday, though she found a stack of dirty, half empty dishes waiting for her to clean in the kitchen. Garterbelt practically ignored her for most of the day, only looking at her when he was in need of bringing some type of holy decor for the public part of their church, which was fine for her. Panty, on the other hand, bugged her for a half hour after she was done washing the dishes, asking her for what she was doing the past few days. Each answer was met with a small, boring lie that kept Panty's curiosity from growing, a feat that was easily accomplished if she mentioned the words "death", "sweets", or "techno" more than once. Her sister still pestered her for details throughout the day, but it took a simple comment on how she lost count on how many guys she screwed recently got her off her back.

As soon as Panty left to find some more man meat to chew on, she was finally able to make a secondary deck, loosly based around the Ice Barriers and their synchro monsters, in order to run a few test duels against her main deck. Neither deck were perfect, nor were they well suited against one another, but her main issue was that her own deck didn't seem to have enough of a bite to it. Maybe she needed to get her hand on an additional Utopia for a decent defense/offensive beatstick? It was then she recalled about one of the pack sets Brief told her about, and thought about buying it before she took a shower to sooth her nerves and get her tired enough for sleep.

So, with a new day upon her, one where she was free of chore duty, she took the keys for See Through from her sleeping sister and had her main deck with her for the day. She knew that she wasn't supposed to show the duel disk just yet, so she was forced to leave it at home, a fact that oddly left her slightly sad at the thought. Even though she knew that she still had to find that one card that made her deck go back to the forty card minimum, she knew that, thanks to her declaration of war against Brief, she couldn't go to the Card Buffet for cards, leaving her with few options. She could always go and buy them from a main stream store, though she didn't like dealing with chance, which was common when coming to buying packs, but it wasn't worth the extra cash.

The only other card shop in Daten City was called Hobby Collector's Heaven, a decent shop from what the reviewers said online, though it was known to have a tight knit "family" of workers and regular shoppers that, when challenged, would always get the backing of the workers and the owner itself. That could easily be taken in as that the place was shady, or that the workers were quite emotional about their regulars, as the shop didn't have much business. Either way, she sighed and forced herself to follow the map that led to the card shop, and noticed that there was a text on her phone. One click later, she was surprised to see a text from Garterbelt.

"Stocking, saw that you have See Through for the day. Don't forget to fill up on gas on the way home. Oh, and pick me up some bookmarks from the store if you get a chance. Any will do, but I need bookmarks. A lot if possible." Stocking shrugged at the odd request the preacher made. It wasn't the first time she got such odd requests, though she wasn't sure as to why she always got them whenever she was on the road. A few minutes later, the card shop she'd be visiting for the next few days came to sight, and she could tell that it was more busy than the Card Buffet by the cars parked in its parking lot alone. The shop was in its own building, rather than built in a strip mall, providing them with more room to stretch their signs about the building, as well as allowing her to see through the windows into the building.

_'Lets see what Brief's competition is like.'_ Stocking thought to herself as she quickly parked See Through, grabbed her deck, and walked in. There were no tables for table top gaming, allowing for the main floor of the building to be used by rows of bookshelves, display desks, and several random chairs littered near several shelves. She noticed there was a sign pointing to the gaming room, most likely for table top games, but ignored it and went up to the counter instead. The worker at the register was a thin girl, possibly seventeen or fourteen if she went on figure alone, with bright blonde hair held in pig tails and had a bored expression on her face.

"Welcome to HCH, what can I get for you?" Stocking leaned forward, smirking on the inside as she noticed the blonde looking at her breasts, which were taking up a good portion of the counter space, and looked at their selection. They had the same packs, decks, and tins as the Card Buffet, though she noticed that there was a particular plactic sleeve with the words "Repacked Packs" written over them. If she had to guess, they were packs of cards that had the most expensive or useful rare, secret rare, and other rarities taken out, only to be replaced by crappy rares and the like.

"Yes, I'd like two of the Battle Pack playmat sets. I'll buy more if I like what I get out of this." The blonde nodded and handed her two of the special sets, a decently sized box with the thick playmat rolled up in the middle. Five packs surrounded a side of the mat, meaning that she had about twenty packs to go through, and she knew she would have quite the fun looking through them all. Once she paid for them, she walked into the next room, taking the closest free chair for herself, which was simple enough to do when the other people were using the tables next to the windows, and began to open her packs. She found herself grinning at the two copies of **Tiras, Keeper of Genesis**, the second Utopia, and **Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon**. She knew they would help fill up her extra deck easily, though the random spell cards she got weren't as helpful as she would of liked.

Battle Packs worked exactly as Brief explained it to her. With the ten packs she got from each special set, she had more than enough cards to swap the useless cards with some useful ones. In terms of Xyz monsters, she now had a good number of them, meaning that most of the three to four star monsters she got were of use now, though not having a full set of one card, such as the three star effect monster** Vortex Trooper **was rather annoying. Another fact she noticed was that, when she pulled out Adreus and Tiras, they were each in a different set, and, out of the two sets she got, she only had three five star monsters. If she never bought the second set, she wouldn't of been able to successfully summon either of those Xyz monsters, if she was planning on creating a deck with the Battle Pack cards of course.

If anything, the Battle Packs were a good thing to have if you wanted to start someone off onto Yu-Gi-Oh in a proper manner, as the set gave more than enough cards to give someone a proper deck that taught them how to build a proper deck. There were many themes that one could invest into, Ancient Gears, Spellcasters, Wind-Ups, and Gagaga for example, and the free mat meant that the cards could be played on a surface that wouldn't easily bend the card. She wouldn't mind if the set came with some card sleeves though, just to protect the cards that would be used.

"Hey." Stocking looked up from her card pile, which were separated by monster levels, Xyz, and spells and traps, in order to look at three teens that were standing next to her table. "You mind if I look at your cards?" The teen that was talking to her was slightly chubby, making his shoulders bulge out of his sleeves more than she would of liked. His companions were identical to one another, being thin with polo shirts and a backpack on them, which most likely meant that they didn't have a will of their own and would most likely die to become a Ghost of some sort one day.

"Yes, I do mind actually. I'm trying to figure out which cards are more useful to the deck I'm working on." One of the thin nerds looked at her Xyz pile and pointed to it. More specifically, he pointed to Adreus, catching the other's attention.

"She pulled an Adreus! Didn't you say you needed an Adreus for your new deck Louis?" At that, Stocking frowned and slapped the hand away from her cards. Though this caused the thin nerd to wince and pull his hand back, she kept her eyes focused on the other two. Three against one were never good odds in any type of battle, even if she was a seasoned warrior of Heaven.

"I'm not trading anything, if that is what you're wondering."

"Che, don't see why you're even trying to build a deck anyway. Girls can't make a good deck."

"Excuse me?" Great, she not only had to deal with pathetic nerds, but she had to deal with pathetic nerds who were also _sexists_. Could her day get any better than this? "I'd like to see what a fat nerdy boy like yourself could create with such sweaty hands. I bet all they're good for is to grab that mini sausage you call a-"

"Then why don't you put your cards where your mouth is!" Louis yelled, preventing her from continuing her sentence. He sat on the chair in front of her, quickly taking out a deck from his pocket and placed it on the table. With the exception of his extra deck, his main deck was horribly bent in the middle, suggesting that he never heard of card sleeves, let alone used them to keep his cards straight, as they arched upwards. "If you win, you can see what a true tournament winning deck looks like by keeping mine. But if, and when I say if, I mean _**WHEN**_ I win, your deck and the cards you got today are mine! Is that fair little girl?" Stocking stacked all of her cards and placed them in one of the Battle Pack boxes, causing her to pull out one of the duel mats and rolled it out. With the box of cards now placed on her lap, she pulled out her cards and began to shuffle.

"I'll agree, if you throw in your trade binder."

"What!" The three teens yelled in synch. It made her wonder if the three jacked off right next to one another every now and again. If so, then it would make sense as to how they could be so well tuned to one another. "Not even your shitty deck is worth all of the wonderful cards that are for true duelists!"

"Oh, I understand. Just can't handle the thought of being beaten by a _woman_ like myself huh?" Stocking cut her cards in half, taking a different route in terms of shuffling until Louis accepted the proposal, which he would. "I guess you just aren't a good enough duelist to beat a noob like myself huh? I bet that "tournament" winning deck is simply one you use against your twins behind you."

"I agree!" Just like that, Louis began shuffling with gusto, causing her to grin as she slowly stopped shuffling her deck. Once they quickly shuffled the other's deck, one of the twins flipped a coin, which fell to her favor, and she called for the first turn. With the life points set to 8000, she drew the first card of the duel, and frowned slightly. Though the Slate Warrior and Pitch-Black Warwolf would be useful for their own reasons, she felt like being nasty, and played one monster card face down before ending her turn.

"Che," One of the nerd twins chuckled, "is that what you call a good start to a duel? Setting a single monster? Pathetic!"

"Pathetic is right my friend, and I'll show you why! I draw, and summon **Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus**. Not only is this beast a strong monster, but it allows me to take any Crystal Beast monster in my deck and put it in the spell zone as a continuous spell card!" Louis pulled out **Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle** and placed it down before shuffling his deck, which she denied to cut. It didn't matter what he did, as it would be all for naught if he did what she thought he would do. "I'll attack your wimpy face down!"

"Flip effect of **Penguin Soldier** activates, sending your Sapphire Pegasus back to the hand." The calm way Stocking spoke made Louis look at her with a glare before setting a card in the spell zone, most likely a trap, and ended his turn. She called her turn and drew her card, a very destructive card indeed, and set it before calling for her next monster. "I normal summon **Pitch-Black Warwolf**, which prevents you from activating any Trap cards during the battle phase, and I go for direct damage."

"Ha, beginner's luck." Louis said as his life points went down to 6400. He quickly took his turn to resummon his Sapphire Pegasus, bringing out a **Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth** into his Spell zone. As an act of intelligence, he activated **Crystal Beacon**, allowing him to special summon a Crystal Beast as long as he had two or more Crystal Beasts in his Spell and Trap zone. This allowed him to bring out a second Pegasus, bringing out a different Crystal Beast to his Spell zone, an Amethyst Cat this time around. "And now I attack with my first Sapphire-"

"I activate my trap, **Magic Cylinder**, which negates the attack and sends damage equal to its attack to you."

"E-either way, you're Warwolf is going to die to my second Pegasus!" Sure enough, her wolf was destroyed, making her take 200 points of damage; however, she was still in the clear, unlike Louis, who had 4600 points. When he ended his turn, she drew her card and grinned at what she drew.

"Since you have monsters whereas I do not, I can special summon **Level Warrior**. I then normal summon **Slate Warrior**-"

"Ha! You're an idiot to try and bring out some defense and offense at the same time. I activate **Spellbinding Circle**, making it impossible for **Slate Warrior** to attack or change its battle position."

"Idiot." Stocking instantly said, causing the kid to glare at her. _'Note to self, call him a kid to cause some anger.'_

"You're the dumbass who left herself open!"

"And you didn't let me finish my turn, idiot. Now then, since my **Level Warrior** is now a level four thanks to its special summoning effect, I overlay it and **Slate Warrior** to bring out **Number 39: Utopia**, which destroys your puny yet wasted trap. Now, I'll attack one of your pegasi, delivering you a steamy plate of 700 points of damage." The look on his face as he put one of his monsters to the grave was wonderfully satisfying, and the intense look he shot to his deck as she ended her turn made her quite excited.

"I draw, and lady luck brings upon me fortune, as I equip my Pegasus with **Crystal Release**, boosting my monster with 800 attack, making it 2600! Now I'll attack-"

"Which will be negated by Utopia's effect." Bye bye **Level Warrior**, she thought to herself as Louis was forced to end his turn. If he summoned anything weaker, it would only hurt him in a bad way, which was something he didn't need at this point in time, this much Stocking knew. "I draw, and activate **Allure of Darkness**, drawing two cards in exchange of sending Gorz to the grave." Two cards later, she couldn't stop the grin from showing and played two spell cards. "The first card is **Darkworld Shackles**, making your Pegasus' attack and defense drop to 100, it can't attack, and during each of my standby phases, you take 500 points. The next card is **Nightmare's Steelcage**, preventing either of us from attacking the other for two turns. Your move."

"I draw and summon **Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger**, though it won't stay on the field for long, as I use it and my Pegasus to Xyz summon my **Gem-Knight Pearl** before ending my turn." Well, there went her shackles, but she did have to admit, for a Xyz monster that had no effects, the 2600 attack it had was quite nice. She drew her card, marking it as the first turn for the cage, and set the card she drew down before handing the turn over. He placed a monster down before ending his turn, destroying the cage once and for all.

"Its my draw." Stocking stated as she drew her next card. She was lucky enough to draw her second **Penguin Soldier**, which would bounce the monsters Louis had back to his hand, and set it down before ending her turn. Either way, in a matter of turns, she'd win this game, and she had a feeling Louis knew that fact too.

"I activate **Crystal Promise**, bringing my **Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth** from the spell zone to the monster zone. I flip summon a second Topaz Tiger, and Xyz Summon my own Utopia! Since I have a feeling that you're trap card will activate if I attack your Utopia, I'll attack your face down monster!" If it wasn't for the fact that his move was working for her benefit, Stocking would of wondered why Louis went for such a horrible move. Face down monsters usually had a bad effect, so why even try to target them without a safe way of saving yourself from the effects.

"You activated **Penguin Soldier's** effect, sending your two Xyz monsters back to the extra deck, but their materials are to the grave."

"But! But! Ugh! Just GO!" Stocking smirked as she drew her next card, though she was sure it wouldn't be as useful as it was during her duel with Brief. One direct attack from her Utopia later, and she was delighted to see Louis growl lightly as his life points went down to 1400.

"You know, I can see that your half baked deck of yours is failing you badly, so why don't you just give up now? I'll only take your extra deck instead of your full deck and trade binder little boy. Its not like you'll have anything I'd like anyway."

"No thanks bitch!" THAT made her frown as he slapped the table in anger. Screw giving him mercy, he would suffer. "Shove that offer up your asshole! I'm no quitter! Now, shut up and let me draw!" One card later, she watched as a large, shit eating grin found its way upon his ugly face. "Ha, in your face! I activate the field spell **Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins**! Depending on the amonut of Crystal Beasts on my spell zone, I get a variety of effects! I then activate a second **Crystal Promise**, bringing out Cobalt Eagle in defense mode and end my turn!"

"A worthless move. I draw and activate **Lightning Vortex**, destroying your Cobalt Eagle in exchange for discarding a card and attack for game. I win with barely a dent to my life points. Stocking brought her deck together, separating the Xyz monster on her field from the rest of the deck before putting said deck in her special pocket. She stood and, with her box of cards tucked under her left arm, grabbed his deck. "A deal is a deal, and if you two nerds don't want to suffer a beating, I suggest taking his trade binder out of his backpack and handing it to me now." The nerd closer to Louis' back nodded before opening the backpack, pulling out a thin binder that, despire its size, had many card pages within.

"You can't do this to me! I'm not losing my cards to a girl!" Despite the lunge Louis made for his trade binder, Stocking raised her arm high enough for him to get a face full of her elbow, making him shout in pain as he rolled on the floor. She noticed that a second binder that was much smaller slipped out of the open backpack and picked it up, as well as the second card mat she got from the Battle Pack special set before walking out of the second room. She noticed, as she walked out, the blonde clerk glared at her, and smirked.

"Just because you're a nerd like the others doesn't mean you're pretty, let alone have enough sex appeal to raise the dead." She quickly left for the sweets shop, hoping to get a hold of some additional sweets before returning home, and made her way for the closest shop. All of those cooking puns really made her hungry for some well baked desserts!

-Author Note-

Hello everyone of the Fanfiction world! I'm glad to see readers and supporters of this story, and I thank everyone who took the time to read the last chapter. As usual, I don't own Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Yu-Gi-Oh, or any other references that squirm their way into this story. I'd like to thank **NoirRenamon** for the deck list that was sent to me which, if I don't get around to making it completely for her, will use it as another duelist's deck. I do have many cards of different types, old and new sets, and others, so randomized decks with themes of their own will pop up if this is continued past the big reveal. So, if you have an idea or three, send me a private message and I'll see if I can get a hold of the cards necessary to building the deck.

Oh yes, to those interested, I have came across several "repacked" packs. I don't ever want to purchase them again, but it was a learning experience to occur during one of my anime convention trips. Now then, lets get onto the reviews!

**DaXlyn**: Though you posted for the first chapter, I am thankful for your review, and I'm simply happy that you found the time to read this story.

**HotelKatz**: As always Katz, thank you for your review! Yes, the Akuma sisters will show up in the story, though when, and how many times, is a factor I am still considering for this prequel of sorts I suppose. As for the Ghost idea, its been taken into consideration, though not one obsessed with Yu-Gi-Oh just yet. I have a rather nice idea for that type of being.

**Shooting Star Rider**: I'm glad to see your review, so thank you for reading the story! I'm glad to see another duelist, and I am thankful for your praise of the information and way I write out my story and the duels. I'm glad this story has your support, and I might ask you for deck ideas, just like with NoirRenamon. And, the pairing will most likely end up as such, but why give a finalized answer so soon into a story?

Again, to all of my readers, thank you for reading. I do hope to see more reviews for this, as continued interest is what builds more chapters for this story. More shall happen as the story grows, and I hope you all will enjoy the next chapter as you have enjoyed this one. Until next time!


	5. Arc 1: To Realize the Truth

Hello again everyone! I'm a bit sad that the story didn't get that many reviews for the last chapter, but I'm also happy that I'm finding this story more and more interesting with each duel infected chapter that comes with it. I do thank those that have taken the time to review, and I hope to see more people pick up interest in this crossover soon. Still, lets get onto the actual chapter, shall we? As usual, I don't own Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, nor do I own any of the Yu-Gi-Oh series. I own two of the 5D mangas, and a good chunk of the cards. Now then, onwards!

"Normal Speaking!"

_"Mental thoughts."_

**"Card Names."**

**"Devices."**

-Chapter 5-

Louis had some expensive cards, Stocking would admit to herself as she looked from the card binder to her laptop every few seconds. Even if he was a textbook example of a nerd who would live and die a virgin, unless raped by a guy, he knew how to get a hold of some serious money cards, and she was going to sell them to the Card Buffet after their match, since some free money is better than nothing at all. It was only a few days away, and she would finally be free of this curse known as Yu-Gi-Oh with Brief's defeat at her hands!

"Stocking, you got a phone call!" Garterbelt shouted from the kitchen, catching her attention. It was very rare for someone to call her on the church phone, as the few people that even gave her the time of day called her via cellphone. So, she couldn't help but to be intrigued at who would be calling her, and hurried downstairs to get the phone. She was not only rewarded with the phone, but got to see Garterbelt looking at the stack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards she gave him yesterday. She didn't like Crystal Beasts at all, mostly due to how they now reminded her of the rude actions of the nerd she won the deck from, and gave them to Garterbelt as the bookmarks he requested.

So why was he laying the cards out as if he was building a deck?

"Uh, Garter...What are-"

"You better pick up the phone before the person on the other line hangs up." Stocking got the jist and went for the phone. Maybe he was suddenly thinking of opening a zoo, since the card art most Yu-Gi-Oh cards had either made something look odd, cute, or badass.

"Hello?"

**"Hello my child."**

"M..mom?" Stocking whispered, unsure as to why her mom would be calling her. They hadn't had the best relationship after the fallout the two had, leaving Panty as the main child of interest. So why would she call her now?

**"Yes, how are you dear?"**

"I'm fine. Now what do you want, if you don't mind me asking? You never make house calls."

**"I'm calling to ask you something. Is it true that you took some cards from a human yesterday?"** Hm, that was odd. She honestly didn't know that her mom kept eyes on the affairs of human gaming.

"Yes I did. This nerd Louis and I played a card game that he wanted to play to get my deck and the cards I bought. I wanted his in exchange, and he agreed-"

**"After you bullied him into it."**

"Which he did to me, if you were paying attention to the events that led up to the game at all. So why are you calling? Did you not get the full picture, or are you telling me to give him back the cards?"

**"Its pointless if you do so now. He's dead."** THAT was a shocker. She hoped that he didn't commit suicide over some cards, as that would truly label him as a nerd for the rest of his afterlife. **"He went over to a treehouse that his friends Carl and Darel had and killed the two before falling to his death. All of which was caused by you winning such a silly game."**

"EXCUSE ME!" Stocking screamed, noticing full well the flinch Garterbelt showed on his face. She didn't care though, as she was going to set her mother straight! "I didn't make him challenge me now did I? I wasn't the one who didn't think several steps ahead of the opponent, he was the one who didn't do that. I'm not the one who-"

**"Yes, I know! But couldn't you of just lost the game and simply bought some cards?"**

"Oh yes, because YOU give me an hourly wage. Oh wait, you _DON'T_, because Panty and I are here as _punishment_ for her crimes! So we have to earn Heavens and give them to Garterbelt to hold onto, and take away from our total goal when we must get something! And no, as for buying new cards, I could do that, but let me ask you this. If someone came up to you when Panty and I were born and wanted us because they thought they could be a better parent, would YOU give us up, or would you fight?"

**"That has nothing to do with it and you know it young lady!"** Her mom yelled back, though Stocking felt nothing about it. She wasn't going to regret what had happened, not one bit, especially when it wasn't her fault. Now if only her mom understood that!** "You caused a death today, and you're so darn lucky that I haven't had your Angel abilities sealed due to it."**

"Oh, because a simple children's card game can KILL A PERSON! This isn't an anime mom, its life, and a simple small piece of cardboard and foil isn't going to kill anyone."

**"Be that as it may. I'm banning you from your Heaven money for the next month."** Stocking felt angry. Angrier than she had in a long time. Yes, she had her own bank account, so her mother's punishment wasn't going to hurt her, but it was still alarming that her mom would keep her from the Heavens. Did she even try to understand things from her point of view?

"Your point? I have my own bank account, which has my own HUMAN money in it, something you can't touch, as its related to the affairs of the LIVING, as stated in the Bible. Now then, if you want to say anything else, please do so, or else I'm hanging up!"

**"Stocking..."** Did her mom truly sound sincere, or was she just alarmed at her living on her own expenses? It wasn't that hard actually, especially if she could get more expensive cards to sell, but she made her money via commercials, dessert recipes, and participating in some contests that related to her talents. She didn't know how long she had to stay on Earth, so she planned ahead, unlike Panty or, apparently, her mother. **"You are lucky you are my daughter, as well as the one in charge of Heaven, or else you would of been stripped of your powers and left on Earth to die."**

"So what? At least I would of went out like you did to dad!" Stocking hung up the phone, running upstairs with her face stuck in a glare that would make Hell itself wince in fear of her. How dare she? How DARE she try to pull that card not once, but twice! She just wanted to get away from the church, from all of this "holy" influence that reminded her of mother, and did just that. She grabbed her deck, the trade binder, and the keys to See Through, since Panty was able to screw the guy she got the motorcycle to take out Crazy Crazy Cabbie to give her another motorcycle, this time with some cash to the side for some free gas money. This meant that she had See Through all to herself, and used it just to get out of the house.

If it wasn't for the fact that she promised herself she wouldn't return to the Card Buffet until her duel with Brief was done with, she would of went there and used Brief as her ranting tool. With him out of the picture, and the news of the three nerd's deaths reaching the HCH, she couldn't go there without being questioned, so she went to the bookstore, where she was sure that she could pick up a good book and read half of the day away. The place she went to was a no name place, where no one would bother her with anything of annoyance, such as hitting on her or asking for poetry lessons, and liked their selection of books.

Sadly, when she got there, she realized that it was still too early in the day for the shop to open, causing her to wait in See Through until the store opened. Waiting outside wasn't exactly worth it, Stocking knew this quite well, for she could of went to the bookstore at the mall to relax, but she was quite stubborn, and wanted to give this shop as much time as she could before her patience ran thin. As fate would have it, another person was waiting for the bookstore to open as well.

_'No one special.'_ She instantly decided before cracking open her deck and grinned at it. Thanks to Louis and her oh so gracious _donation_ of cards, she found some very interesting cards to add to her deck. She didn't want to overload it with strong monsters, but she did find herself adding one particular monster that could help her out in certain situations. If it didn't work out, she'd swap it with another monster she had plans for. _'What am I saying.'_ Stocking looked at herself in the rearview mirror._ 'I'm not going to play this once I beat Brief in a few days! I know I'm not!'_

"Hey, you play?" Stocking turned and saw the person that was waiting in front of the bookstore looking at her from the pasenger door. She was similar to Panty in terms of body size, except she had dark brown skin, silver dreadlocks that reached a little past her shoulders, and had green eyes. With the exception of the shoulderbag that had the picture of a Hello Kitty character, she wouldn't of expected someone like her to try and talk to her.

"Yea. Do you?"

"I do, just got back into the game not too long ago actually. When I heard that the Tachikagu corporation joined with Konami to create duel disks and sell them to the market, I couldn't wait to get back into the game! Even if I don't like the lack of spellcaster interest or the expensive cards that can make a cell phone bill look like a penny donation, I'm still getting the duel disk!" Wow, she sure can talk, Stocking had to admit to herself. She noticed that the bookstore suddenly opened, and proceeded to put her cards back in her deckbox of a pocket before leaving See Through.

"The store opened, so we can talk in there. Not that you have to continue talking to me of course!" _'What is wrong with me today? Is it due to lack of sweets?'_ The girl followed her into the store, joining her as the two were welcomed with huge bookshelves that were practically ready to explode with books everywhere. Despite all of the sections and different genres of books in here, the girl went to the magazines in a flash, surprising Stocking with the sudden shriek that the girl released a few seconds later. With her curiosity poked, she walked over to the magazines, curious at what the girl was so happy about, and soon got a face full of whatever she grabbed.

"They still have it! This shop is truly the best ever!" Stocking couldn't believe what the girl slapped her face with. It was one of Brief's Japanese manga books! How could she be into such disgusting, lame things? There was nothing good in terms of art, the plot was lacking, and, though not a great point, she could at least buy a regular book and feel content at the cliffhanger most book series gave her, rather than what a manga would most likely give off.

"And why did you slap me with such a pathetic book?" Though the girl looked hurt, she flashed a smile and pointed to the paper that was in the plastic wrapped magazine. Upon closer inspection, it had a Xyz monster in it, and was supposedly the last of the magazine the Shonen Jump company would produce. "So is it a good card?"

"Only if you can get rid of its materials and get it over to the opponent's field." The girl replied, alreagy grabbing herself two more magazines. Was she serious about cleaning this woman out of those magazines? What would she do with the rest, Stocking couldn't help but to wonder. "The only problem is that you can still tribute it, so anyone using a Hieratic deck could bring this out, or Lightsworn, or..."

"I get it." Stocking interrupted, grabbing one of the magazines on the floor to inspect on her own. The monster name was **Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction**, and if its effect was something bad for the opponent, she was interested in running it. The only instant problem was that her deck wasn't something that allowed Rank 3 summons, nor did it have a way to swap out monsters with the opponent. The only good thing she could do with it would be to have it and hold onto it, or grab multiple magazines and stock up to sell or trade to Brief once she beat him during their duel. "So is it worth grabbing three magazines then?"

"Who knows?"

"What?" Did this girl really just say such a thing? If you didn't know the value or the working of a card, then why invest so much money just to get it? If she was a collector, then all she needed was one, but since she was getting three, it meant she had a plan for them. That, or she wanted a full set for her collection, a costly thing she was sure. "Then why get three and not one?"

"Meh, because these magazines are the last ones Shonen Jump America ever produced, and are now sticking to online updates, though they still print manga for the bookstores. If it wasn't for that online bit, I would of gotten Shock Ruler and **Slifer the Sky Dragon**, but can I blame them? People read manga all the time, and don't get me started on the card theieves."

"So, in other words, you'd rather be sure about your purchase rather than only get one, want more, only for them to be gone?" When she saw the girl nod, she didn't know what exactly came over her, but she walked past her and began grabbing the other magazines. There were no openings on the plastic wrap, meaning that the card should still be safe inside, and noticed there were a few others Shonen Jumps. Out of the others, only two of them had other cards in them, an **X-Saber Souza** and **The Supremacy Sun,** and grabbed them before the girl could. What could she say? She wanted many unique cards to see what they could offer to her and the deck she was focusing on. Right as she grabbed the last two of the other Shonen Jumps, she noticed the girl was moving further into the store and followed after her. Since the girl was on a card high, she was sure that whatever section she was going for would have more cards, which would make whatever section she was heading tolerable.

Sadly, her tolerance would be severely tested in the one place she always stayed clear of. The books clogged the shelves, each having many different colored text and images on the side of the bind, as if trying to stare at her as she walked around. There were books of every letter, many of their titles she didn't know how to pronounce properly, and hoped she wouldn't have to pick one up. When she saw the girl on the floor with her eyes glued to the Y section, Stocking knew she would have to break one of the minor rules she made for herself after she met Brief.

She would have to touch manga.

The magazines were different, for they were something that she could simply tossed to the side after she plucked the card from it. Books, on the other hand, were something she respected for everything they represented. Patience, for the updates and sequels, unique characters and the situations one reads in each book, and so many more qualities Stocking could list. So, if the Yu-Gi-Oh mangas actually had cards in them, then she would be forced to buy the book and actually hold onto them, something she didn't exactly want to do.

_'I could always give this stuff to Brief. He'd like it.'_ But then, she realized, he would be dejected at the card being taken out, causing her to groan and sat down across the girl to look at the Y section with her. There weren't enough books for them to take three of each, but they could easily grab two and be content. When she looked at the girl, she seemed to came to the same thought and both nodded before grabbing away. By the time they were done picking mangas, the Yu-Gi-Oh Gx, 5D, and most of the R series was gone, leaving only a single copy left to represent what was once there. Despite all of the books they both had, they were easily able to take it to the register and paid for their loads, grinning as they were allowed a free suitcase for their books, a very helpful gesture, especially since Stocking didn't exactly want to be seen with the mangas at the moment.

"Hey," the girl caught her attention, "I never introduced myself. My name is Sal. Sal Andrews. And you are?" Stocking would of stuck her arm out for it to be shaken, but even she didn't think her training in Heaven would of kept her balanced enough to keep the books from falling before they were all in the suitcase.

"Stocking Anarchy." They soon reached See Through, which Stocking quickly opened the trunk so she could put the suitcase in, and turned to Sal, who stook on the sidewalk with a smile on her face. It was then that she realized she didn't hear a car door slam or open when she first noticed Sal, and something came to mind. "Did you walk here?"

"Well...not exactly." Sal began to scratch her cheek, a gesture of calming down if she ever saw one, mostly thanks to the few times she saw Naruto on the TV while finding a good food network channel. "I took a bus about an hour ago and walked the rest of the way."

"Get in."

"Huh?"

"Get in." Stocking already closed the trunk, glancing at Sal, who nodded and placed her suitcase in the back seat before sitting in the passenger seat. Right as she stepped in and closed the driver door, Sal's stomach began to gurgle, causing the girl to blush and turn to the side. Stocking had to admit, that was perfect timing, as she had the thought of getting a bite to eat herself. "Do you know of any good places to eat around here?"

"N-no. I heard that the King of Burgers is having a sale on their original chicken sandwiches though."

"Then that is where we are going. I hope they have sweets." Stocking didn't know which was sweeter, the fact that Sal's scream sounder more pitched than the regular girl, or the fact that she bent her seat all the way back and grabbed the suitcase for dear life, allowing Stocking a clear view of the girl's small, yet pearky, breasts through her thin material of a shirt and the generic bra. Either way, she had a general idea where the King of Burgers was, and she was sure that, if she didn't get it right, she'd simply have to speed up faster to find out where it was.

* * *

Luckily for Sal, Stocking got it right the first time, stopping the roller coaster known as See Through for a little while. Stocking had to give the girl props, for she didn't instantly throw up like many of Panty's dates did thanks to her driving, and watched as the girl performed a silly dance to ease her stomach and regain her balance. When she was sure that Sal was good to go, she locked See Through, grabbed her own suitcase, mostly so Sal didn't feel so odd when the other people inside looked at her, and joined her inside.

Sal was right about the sale on their chicken sandwiches, which was what the two decided to get two sandwiches, since it was a buy one get one, with a small order of fries to boot. That is where their orders became different, as Sal simply got a large drink to quench her thirst, which was good, since the drink machine was open to the public. Stocking, on the other hand, got a smoothie to keep her meal healthy, some cheesecake slices, and a thing of ice cream, which was the first to go before their food even left the kitchen.

When their food arrived, Stocking instantly dived into the cheesecake, enjoying its rich, sweet taste, even if it needed more chocolate coating, before eating the chicken sandwich. The fries were something she didn't really need, so she didn't mind when Sal went crazy and ate her fries faster than she ate her sandwich, and gave them to her. Her smoothie was delicious, and just the right tempreature to combat against the hot, filling chicken sandwiches the place gave her. All in all, she was glad to see that Sal enjoyed her meal, and was happy with the experience she was presented as well.

"Hey Stocking." Sal suddenly spoke, causing her to pause from drinking her smoothie. Sal reached into her pocket and pulled out a white duel box, causing her to wonder if everyone she saw wore baggy jeans to make those big card boxes fit. "Do you want to duel, now that we're done with our food? That is, if you want to I mean." Stocking grinned and pulled out her deck, something she was surprised she did so quickly, and placed her cards on the table. Another good thing about winning the trade binder from Louis was that many of his cards were protected by card sleeves, all of which were the same color, and swapped them with her cards, ensuring that they were more protected. She did the same with her extra deck, though she used different colored sleeves so she wouldn't shuffle them into her deck like she used to while practice dueling herself. With the flip of a coin, Stocking went first, though she pulled out her phone and set the calculator for their life points after they shuffled their decks.

"I draw." Stocking liked her hand, as she already had a strong monster and some traps prepared just for whatever Sal brought out. After setting her **Trap Hole** and her second card, she summoned her **Slate Warrior**, which had a great attack of 1900, though its defense was horrible. With nothing else to do, she ended her turn.

"Hm, I wonder what I can do against you. My turn." Sal spoke before drawing. She set two cards onto the field, practically mimicing her side, before setting a monster card on the field. "I can't do much of anything. Your turn." She drew a **Dark Hunter**, joining the one she drew at the start of the duel, and summoned it.

"Since I don't have any Dark monsters in my graveyard, it loses 400 attack points, putting it at 1200. I'll attack your face down monster with **Slate Warrior**." The monster she destroyed was **Poison Mummy**, and groaned at the effect of it.

"Since it was flipped, you lose 500 life points." A loss was a loss, Stocking knew, and watched as her 8000 life points went down to 7500. She wasn't done yet, since she destroyed the toxic mummy, she was able to attack Sal directly with **Dark Hunter**. At least, she would have, were it not for **Half or Nothing**, the trap card Sal activated. Either she cut her monster's attack in half, or she stopped attacking. Taking the easy way out, she ended her turn, giving it over to Sal. "I draw, and set another monster on the field before ending my turn."

_'Does she run a burn deck?'_ Stocking had to wonder as she drew another card. She liked the trap she drew and placed it down, looking at one of her big monsters in hand before looking at Sal. "I sacrifice my **Dark Hunter** in order to bring out **Dark Ruler Ha Des**, which has an interesting effect, allowing for any effect your monsters have to be negated once destroyed by my fiend monsters. I then attack your face down with it, and follow through with **Slate Warrior**." Her face down this turn was **Jar Turtle**, a 2100 defense monster that would of injured her if she attacked with **Slate Warrior** first, and ended her turn with a small smile.

"I set one monster face down and end my turn." Stocking drew her card and liked what she drew. It would be the first time she drew it, but she enjoyed it none the less as she prepared for what she was about to do.

"I normal summon **Creation Resonator** and tune it with **Slate Warrior** to synchro summon my **Dark Highlander**." Even if Sal didn't have any equipment out at the moment, nor did it look like she ran synchros, **Dark Highlander** was a great 2800 beat stick. Not to mention that it benefited from her Dark Ruler's effect since it was also a fiend type monster.

"Since synchro summons are registered as special summons, I'm allowed to activate my trap **Triggered Summon**, which allows us to special summon a level four or lower monster from our hands!" As great as Sal's sudden defense was, she was about to walk into a rather bad trap. Yes, Stocking could of used the extra summon to possibly Xyz summon a later turn, or to have it do extra damage to Sal's life points once they were cleared, but she didn't need the extra help.

"I activate **Compulsory Evacuation Device** on your special summoned monster, sending it back to the hand."

"Ah, then I'll activate my, oh wait, never on with your turn." Stocking looked at Sal with a curious look before attacking with her Dark Ruler, revealing the **Giant Rat** she had prepared for her. If she attacked with any other monster while her Dark Ruler was in the grave or not on the field, it would of been a good move, as it would of allowed Sal to special summon an Earth type monster. With that out of the way, Stocking went in for 2800 life points, putting Sal at 3300. Once she handed the turn over to Sal, she watched as she drew a card and sighed.

"You okay Sal?" Stocking's question surprised Sal, who slowly shook her head. "What's wrong?"

"I don't have anything to go up against your monsters, and the one card I have in my hand will most likely be destroyed by one of the cards in your back row." Sal was correct in that regard, but she didn't have to know that. Sal looked at her hand once more before putting her cards on top of her deck. "I give up. I don't have anything that would go up against your two monsters, and your** Dark Ruler Ha Des** ruins all of my effects." Stocking would of said something, had she not noticed two guys walking up to the their table, both looking like jerks from the start. One of them had a small cup of soda, while the other simply had a bag with their food most likely inside of it. The one with the cup "pretended" to slip, preparing to splash the soda all over their cards, which would of hurt Sal's cards more than her own. She shouldn't of cared, as she already had plenty of cards at home, and her own cards would be safe with the card sleeves. There was no reason she should of card during the seconds she realized what was about to happen.

But, she did care, and jumped over the table to kick the guy in the chest, getting a face full of his soda to her face in the process. The moment the other guy tried to grab her hair, which was now sticky, she leaned forward, avoiding him and punched his crotch, not surprised in the slightest as she barely felt a thing. The jerk, on the other hand, felt something and fell to the floor clutching his crotch in pain, causing her a bit of happiness as she stood up. She felt the eyes of everyone focused on her, Sal's eyes included, and sighed before grabbing several napkins to dry up her neck and arms. She was surprised to see one of the workers come out with a uniform, at least, a extra large white button up shirt with a pair of black dress pants too large for her figure.

"It isn't much, but please use these to dress in. Those two have been causing trouble for everyone every once and a while, so having someone do something for a change is always welcome." Stocking thanked the worker, who was already grabbing the two guys by their legs and dragged them outside, before hurrying to the bathroom, using the next five minutes to dry herself off as much as possible and swapped clothes. When she stepped out, she was rewarded with applause, which surprised her even more than the clothes, and walked over to Sal, who already packed their cards and remaining food up in a bag.

"T-thank you for what you did Stocking. That soda would of ruined my cards if any of it got on the table."

"Meh, don't worry about it. If you don't mind, do you think I could use your place to take a shower?" As much as she wanted to put on a new dress, she didn't want her friend to deal with the intense stare of Garterbelt, or the slutty actions of Panty. _'Wait, friend?'_ Was Sal her friend? Did she even HAVE friends? An image of Brief flashed in her mind, though she discarded the thought. He was her rival, nothing more! She was going to beat the one who got her into the addiction of Yu-Gi-Oh and be done with it as soon as he was defeated!

_'But then you'd have no reasons to hang out with Sal.'_ A thought rose in her mind, causing her to pause her rivalry rant. Would she lose Sal the moment she stopped dueling? Brief was already considering leaving her and Panty alone when dealing with Ghosts, so playing this card game was the only thing that kept the two in contact, and Sal would probably fall under the same category of sorts.

"Yea, I don't mind at all! I live in Upper Daten, so we don't have much further to go if we leave before the traffic gets horrible." Stocking nodded and grabbed her things before they left, her mind thinking about the card game and all it gave her so far. It gave her a friend, a sense of joy and excitement, and something to focus on when times got rough. If she gave it up, she wouldn't JUST be losing two of her friends, as much as she considered Brief more of a rival than a friend. She'd be losing an escape from the world of being an Angel! An escape that made it so much easier from being the sister of Anarchy Panty, the more well liked sister between them! As she stepped in the car and turned See Through on, she decided that she would go back to the church, not only to pick up a spare dress, but to grab her extra cards.

"Hey Sal, do you mind if we work on your deck a little? It seems to be lacking a purpose." Sal looked at her with an odd look. Was that the look she showed to Brief nearly a week ago?

"A purpose?" Stocking grinned as she drove towards the church, explaining to Sal word for word what Brief told her that fateful day. It was then, as she looked at the joyful look Sal gave her, she wouldn't give up dueling, not for anything in the world. Despite that decision, she still had one more thing she had to do.

She had to beat Brief.

-Author Note-

Hello everyone! I'm quite happy with this chapter, as it gave Stocking a bit more of a change, as well as allowed her to see how much such a simple card game could of changed her. Though, for the better or the worst is still yet to be seen. I do apologize if anyone out there dislikes all of the original character I keep on introducing, but more main characters are on their way, no worries about that! Sal's deck is one I made about a year ago, as a small token gift for my niece, who is interested in Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic (she might learn it when she is thirteen, too much explaining to do for the kid), but wanted to build her own deck, rather than get one of my own.

Either way, this chapter has to be one of the most touching, as it finally sets Stocking down in terms of quitting or staying to the game. She has her reasons to stay, even if she hates the manga that she will have to touch in order to get some of those ultra rare cards, and now has a quiet sanctuary of a bookstore to visit. Now then, onto the reviews!

**The Lord of Pages**: As usual, thank you for your review, and I'm interested in the Lvl deck. I use to play one that was based around the Armed Dragon series, though I never was able to get Lvl 10, and liked playing with it. I also prefer casual dueling than local tournaments, but they have those trade binders with cards that I just go to see about getting, making it hard to not play ^.^ Glad you like the chapter though.

**KenZe**: Thank you for your review, and I'm pleased that you like how I explain the duels. I would like to see some of the stories that you mentioned doing the separate paragraphs or highlighting everything. It has me curious at how it is to read.

**Nasha Rei-Kun**: Thank you for taking the time to review, as well as read my other stories! I'm glad you like the P&S/NGE crossover, and hope you review the next chapter, which will come out before or after this chapter. I might be making a P&S/Pokemon or a P&S/Digimon crossover, if only to test the waters as to what is sane and what is truly demented, as I have several ideas for both crossovers, practically two stories for each cross.

To all the other readers, I thank you for taking the time to read this chapter. You are the ones who are helping me write this with your reviews and opinions, so I kindly ask to continue on reviewing. There is one, maybe two more chapters before the end of the introduction, and, if liked, I'll continue past that point. If not, well, its going to be a nice short story to read in the future. Either way, thank you for reading, please **_review_**, and until next time everyone!


	6. Arc 1: To Teach and To Duel

As usual, hello everyone! From readers to reviewers, I thank you for keeping up with this story! Its getting much closer to the "end" if you will, and I hope that everyone has enjoyed what has happened so far. For the disclaimer, I don't own Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh (except the cards I buy from the stores), or any other references that make their way into the story. With that out of the way, lets get this show on the road!

"Normal speaking."

_"Mental Thoughts."_

**"Card Names."**

**"Devices."**

-Chapter 6-

"Why must we do this anyway?" The woman in front of Stocking signed as she reclined against the wall. It would of been an amusing sight, were it not for the deadly weapon that was pressed up against Stocking's throat; however, the woman had the edge of Stripe 2 pressed against her chest, more specifically the heart, meaning the two were in a stalemate. She didn't want to pull away, but she didn't want to press forward and die with the devil in front of her. So, who exactly was the person she was dealing with at the moment?

Her name was Kneesocks Akuma, the younger sister of Scanty Akuma, a fellow classmate at Daten High, and did she forget to mention that she was one of the two Devils of Daten City? It was odd, she would admit, that Kneesocks was a devil with short ranged equipment, a pair of scythes, to match her katanas, even if the colorscheme was different. She, unlike her sister, was a stickler for the rules, believing that they were the right way to go about living, though if she believed in her own rules or the rules of others Stocking didn't know for sure.

"I'm being serious." Kneesocks spoke out, moving her scythe slightly away from Stocking's throat. "Nothing in the _ruuruu_ speak of having to kill my opponent if I don't have to, so why must we fight to the death each and every time we see each other?"

"Because you're a Devil and I'm an Angel."

"So its a racist matter?"

"I'm...not sure and it shouldn't matter when you're trying to kill my sister and I with your sister and those instant Ghosts of yours!"

"Because you and your rash actions are a disease to this city!" Kneesocks replied, bringing her scythe back against her throat. Stocking was REALLY hating that weapon, as it had a longer reach than her katana. "You and your sister destroy everything in your path, regardless of the innocents that are in the general area, and try to get praised for your destruction! You two are lower than us Devils!"

"Oi! Don't put me in on my sister's actions!" Stocking's words made the Devil widen her eyes, though for what reason she didn't know. "I am a samurai in all but the attire, so I know how to minimize the damage and where to point out weaknesses to a certain degree. It isn't my fault Panty is brash and simply thinks that shooting at it will deal instant death to Ghosts, nor is it our fault that Ghosts are unique and have many abilities! Trust me, if I could deal with maybe two, three different types of Ghosts I'd be happy as hell Kneesocks!"

"Then simply let my sister and I perform our task and you can leave and do whatever you wish!" Kneesocks spoke.

"If I could I would, but I can't!" As if the two were twins, the girls dropped their weapons at the same time, falling to the floor with a look of dread on their faces. Their weapons transformed back to their cloth form, looking as harmless as they were meant to be, but neither of the two reached for them. Instead, they looked at one another with dulled eyes. That was, until Kneesocks noticed something on Stocking's waist and pointed at it.

"Is that a deck box?" Stocking looked down and saw that she forgot to detach her deck before meeting up with Panty at the movie theatre in the city. Apparently she hooked her up with a gothic musician that Stocking once said she was interested in, so she couldn't help but to get happy at meeting him for the first time. Sadly, their dates ended up being Ghosts that wore their skin as their own, a trait that is quite common amongst them, and attacked them the moment the two were within arms reach.

Luckily, the Ghost's preemptive strike was mostly filtered by Chuck, who tripped the Ghost who targeted her sister with its body, plunging it into a flat screen tv. Her "date" on the other hand wasn't bothered by their little animal thing, which not only allowed it to get close to her, but forced her to rip off her shoe and threw it at its head, pausing it just enough for her to transform Stripe 2 and attacked. The explosion that followed was enough to make most of the people leaving the theatre fly off, revealing the Akuma sisters from the disguises the duo were wearing to spy on them.

From there, things played out as they normally did. Panty would fight Scanty in long range shooting, leaving her to face Kneesocks in a deadly game of knife fight with one of them potentially losing their life. It never escalated that far though, the worst injury she ever got being a sprained ankle with a broken wrist. Panty was the one who tended to get the worst injuries: broken fingers, broken wrists, an arm busted in three places, and several more injuries she couldn't name at the moment. The one who usually had the least injuries was Brief, which was quite odd, seeing as he was the closest to explosions, getting run over by See Through, and targeted by Ghosts of all different shapes and sizes.

"Yea...It is." Stocking replied in a slow manner, not out of insult, but of caution. Sure, Kneesocks might of had to deal with some of the pathetic geeks in Daten High since Scanty and her were the new queens, but she figured they never had to personally meet the geeks at all. So how could she know about what a deck box was? "Why do you want to know?" At that, Kneesocks pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket and showed it to her.

"Its an invitation to a technology reveal from the Tachikagu corporation and Konami gaming industry. I did some research about the two and found out about the card game Konami supports, among other things. So either you like to play Magic the Gathering, Cardfight Vanguard, or Yu-Gi-Oh." Stocking felt herself blush at Kneesocks' suggestions, knowing that the last choice was the correct one, and sighed. At least she couldn't really use the information to damage her, Stocking decided.

"I've recently gotten into Yu-Gi-Oh, if you must know, and I'm surprised you got an invitation to the event. I thought something such as this was below your status."

"Below me? Ha!" Kneesocks laughed with a grin upon her face. "Nothing of knowledge is blow me, Stocking Anarchy, and don't you forget that! If it has YOUR interest, then it must be stupid!" Stocking couldn't help but to curl her eyebrows and smirk at the Devil in front of her.

"Stupid eh? Then why go to such a STUPID event?" Kneesocks shook her head and put back her kneesock upon her leg. Stocking decided to do the same, placing her clothing back where it belonged, glancing at her body to see if she was seriously injured, only to see nothing but a few minor cuts along her shoulderblades.

"Okay okay, I'm curious about the game and its _ruuruu_, happy?" Kneesocks admitted, glancing at the deck box upon Stocking's hip. She looked down at it, pondering a thought before thinking a thought she shouldn't of been thinking.

"I'm invited to the event as well," Stocking began, hoping to not give away any details as to how or why she was going, "so if I go there earlier than the event, do you want me to bring the cards I do own to teach you a bit about the game?" Seeing the look on Kneesocks' face, Stocking went on. "I've, how should I put this, bought enough packs and special sets to give me a diverse amount of cards to make multiple decks from. Not enough to reconstruct the top winning decks you'd see at big tournaments, but enough to make a decent deck against local players."

"Is this a joke, or are you serious about this Stocking." Kneesocks interrupted, catching the Angel off her guard. "While my father can not come with us, my sister and I are going to the event tonight, so, I ask again. Are you serious about your proposal?" Stocking nodded, considering she also asked Kona Tachikagu, the man that was allowing her and Brief to showcase the duel disk, to allow Sal to come with her to witness the big reveal. With the man being more than happy to allow another duelist to the event, she was more than eager to update her deck with more recent cards, such as the staples and more powerful cards that would work well with her deck. Surprisingly, Kneesocks simply nodded and brought out a cell phone. A single button pressed later, she placed it against her cheek. "Hello? No, she isn't dead. We have to go and get ready for the event tonight, and you know how long your hair will take to get as you like it to be. Love you too sister."

"Thats it?" Stocking asked the Akuma, only to get a stern nod in reply. With that said, Stocking stood and waved at Kneesocks, a gesture that she knew she wouldn't get use to for a long time. "I'll see you at the event then?"

"Until our next meeting Stocking." With that said, the all too familiar limousine drove behind Kneesocks and opened one of its many doors, allowing her entry and a fast way to vacate the battle ground. One cloud of dust later, Stocking shook the dust out of her head and hurried to See Through with tonight's event hot on her mind.

_'At least I don't have to pick Kneesocks up like I have to with Sal.'_

* * *

Stocking felt more refreshed than ever before, thanks to the shower she just got out of, and grinned at the mirror she was looking at. Her hair was soft and glowed in the light of her room, supported with the small top hat that was complemented with a blue flower and a black feather. Even though her breasts grew past the double D category, making her a borderline E, her black dress, the very same she used for the movie showing, fit her perfectly, and, as a safety measure, wore a sapphire necklace that were in the shape of pearls to keep the perverts she was sure to be there off her stunning body. Her shoulderless gloves were sleek, its smoothness being a plus for when she would be drawing her cards in about an hour or two, and smiled at herself.

"Its official, You look so stunning right now, they'll be calling you the Goddess of Dueling!" Sal said from Stocking's bed. Sal dressed for the event as well, wearing a purple dress that clung to her figure, revealing her firm ass that promised a few eyes would follow her every move, and her average bust. Why she didn't pick a green dress or black to complement her eyes, Stocking didn't know, but she was amused to see Sal bringing her deck in her purse, something Stocking didn't even know she had.

"Why thank you." Stocking turned her head a few times, allowing her long, multi-colored hair to fan out around her. Sal's clapping was expected, the girl was quite the happy person, but the second source of clapping confused her, and caused her to look at the door, revealing Panty wearing a longer variation of her normal red dress. Her right wrist was bound by a green bracelet, and her hair was held in a hive-like style, a not so normal look her sister wore.

"So nerds, where are us three going tonight all dressed up? A party? A ball? A movie premire?"

"No Panty, we're going somewhere you don't want to go. As you'd say, its a nerdfest." Panty glared at her for a bit before walking into the room and sat next to Sal. It was a wonder that Sal didn't start moving away from her sister the moment she sat down, but paid no mind to it at all.

"So you say, but the last time I didn't follow you, you weren't at the house for nearly a week, leaving me with Ghost duty and helping Garterbelt with his cooking. Either you got high, shit fucked, or you just had a good time and didn't want to leave whoever gave it to you. I'm in this whether you like it or not Stocking." Stocking looked over to Sal, wondering why she had a small smile on her face, a smile that promised mischief.

"I'm telling you, you're REALLY not going to like this at all. Its simply something you won't like to be associated with, and we both know how much popularity and publicity means to you." Popularity meant everything for Panty. If she was stuck between a horde of big cocked fat guys or a role in a movie, she'd pick the movie and ignore the fat guys, despite their long manhoods, as she'd simply use her new fame to get guys of all sizes. While popularity never truly mattered to Stocking, Panty loved every single second of the spotlight. Panty frowned and flicked her forehead, causing her to blink as a reaction.

"I. Don't. Care. Now lets get going to whatever shin-dig you two are going, alright?" Stocking nodded and grabbed the suitcase that had the duel disk inside, along with her deck and several tins of cards that she was going to use to teach Kneesocks the basics of the game. She didn't miss the looks her sister showed at the items she grabbed and was about to ask about them, or make some kind of insult, when she interrupted her.

"Come on. We're going to be late for a prior arrangement I made." The ride to the building where the event was to be held was awkward, as Sal knew that Panty had no clue as to what the event was about, or what the two enjoyed playing. It also didn't help that Panty began playing one of her sex cds at a high volume, forcing them, as well as everyone around her, would hear her sister's moaning with some singer. Despite the odd choice of music, Stocking didn't allow it to bring her mood down, since tonight was to be a wonderful night.

The building that was going to host the event turned out to be a two story banquet hall, not exactly the most spectacular of places, but it could easily fill around a thousand people if necessary. The outside of the building was lavished by huge theatre lights attracting attention to everyone passing by, with a red carpet and paparazzi surrounding every person who walked into the hall. It sure got Panty excited, as she nearly jumped out of See Through to get some pictures taken of her, but was prevented by Stocking putting a firm grip on her shoulder. By the time that they were able to get in front of the hall, the three stepped out, instantly awarded with flashes of cameras taking a photo of their every move as they walked down the carpet.

"Ohhh, Stocking, is this the grammies? You never told me you had connections!" Panty shouted before posing for a picture that revealed quite the bit of leg. Stocking shook her head before smiling for a picture with Sal by her side, though why she clung to her was confusing, yet cute at the same time.

"Its not the grammies Panty. You'll find out in a while." Once the trio was able to enter the hall, Kona noticed them and walked over with a big grin on his face. It wasn't hard to notice that Panty didn't seem to care about the man, most likely due to his glasses, but Stocking did and smiled right back at him.

"Stocking my dear! I'm glad to see that you came early! Here to socialize before the big event I take?"

"Yep! I wanted to see who would be seeing the reveal. I hope you don't mind if my sister is here to see this. She was really pushing to see me win this thing." Kona laughed and shook his head with a big grin. Panty was about to ask something, something that would make the man confused, so she kicked her leg, awarding her with a groan of pain.

"Not at all Stocking. Sisters gotta support each other, as I've been told. Now, one of the guards will come to you and lead you to the hall where you and Briefers will take the stage. I do hope you give us one hell of a show. I gotta go." As soon as Kona left to talk with some black suits, Panty looked at her and grinned.

"So is this some type of gladiator game to the death or something? Everyone seems a bit excited for whatever this is, and you're in the middle of it." Stocking shook her head and stared straight into Panty's eyes.

"I'm only going to say this once Panty, so PLEASE listen to me." Panty glared at her, but nodded for her to continue. "What I'm going to do tonight is something you don't like, and that was the reason I didn't want you to come with us. You'd openly insult it, make jokes, and ruin the little image I have to myself. So please, despite whatever you will feel for it once the game starts, PLEASE, **PLEASE** keep it to yourself and don't say anything that will cause trouble. Please-"

"Maa, Stocking, I get it. Just please, ugh, not you got me saying it. Just stop staying that word already! Once was enough, two was annoying, and now you've breached the climax of pissing me off. I'll keep my opinions of whatever this is to myself. I'm gonna go find the buffet this place is sure to have, okay?" Before Panty could leave, Stocking hugged her, earning a slight pat on the back from her older sister.

"It means a lot to me." Panty quickly went off to explore, glancing at all of the guys that surrounded them, most likely to pick someone for a quick screw, and went into the other room. Her timing was perfect, as luck would have it, as Kneesocks came out of the hallway to her right with Scanty on the cell phone behind her, each wearing a dress that complimented their hair color.

"Ahh, Stocking, I wasn't sure if you were actually going to show as early as you told me. I hope you don't mind if Scanty watches us. She was insistant with staying by my side in case something were to happen." Stocking nodded and opened her large purse, which was black with her traditional skull icon, and revealed the tins she promised to bring. She then looked at Scanty, who was off the phone, and politely smiled.

"Good evening Scanty. I hope you aren't going to be bothered by us." Scanty chuckled and shook her head.

"Oh no, I will not be. It will be amusing to see what this game is about before this showcase that will change the game forever more after tonight." With that said, Kneesocks led them to one of the rooms down the hall, revealing a comfortable viewing room that also had their own security monitors. Sal was the first to sit down, taking an awkward glance at the trio before they sat down.

"So, how do you three know each other? I mean, if you don't mind me asking!" Scanty was the first to react, by giggling. Kneesocks followed with a light chuckle, and Stocking, though she wanted to tell the truth, decided to pull out a piece of chocolate and swallowed it hole.

"We, along with Panty, go to the same school." Scanty poured a glass of tea, where it came from, Stocking had no clue, for herself and took a sip. She sighed in bliss as she placed the cup back on the table, smiling at Sal with innocence Stocking had no clue she could reveal. "You could say we are rivals for popularity, if you will."

"That is more of Panty's thing, rather than Stocking." Sal replied. She pulled out her deck, the light odd fairy deck that Sal liked to use, despite the stack of cards Stocking gave to her to alter her deck. Maybe she was waiting for more light support to come out for her deck, such as the Vylons?

"I agree," Kneesocks stated, "but we're not here to talk about our relationship to one another. So, what can you teach me about Yu-Gi-Oh?"

"Do you know anything about the game?"

"Other than the fact that its a profitable business and that people from ages five to sixty collect and play it, no. Does that change anything?" Stocking smiled and brought out the tins, taking silent pleasure at the girl's widened eyes.

"Nope, not a darn thing changes. Welcome to Stocking's Kitchen, where you'll be taught many delicious recipes as to what Yu-Gi-Oh cards do, how to build a decent deck, and what to do in certain situations."

The hour and a half that passed was one of the most complicated Stocking had to go through. Kneesocks was mostly silent throughout the teaching, leaving Scanty to ask the questions about types, attributes, and effects of the different kinds of monsters. The level system, synchros, fusions, rituals, and xyz summoning was easy for the two to accept, but she didn't want to show that to them first, even if Sal was quite happy to show them how the xyz system worked.

She was able to see Panty from the security monitors in the room they were using, and was delighted to see that she wasn't causing trouble in the slightest. Just flirting with some of the black suits in the dining hall, though there was one person that actually stayed away from her sister, and that demanded attention. From what she could tell from the screen, despite the fact that it was in black and white, the person had short, slicked hair that spiked towards the back of his head, wearing a bright colored suit of some type, and had several black suits of his own surrounding him. Maybe he was gay, or simply was a very wealthy individual?

Either way, one of the black suits finally came for her, ending the tutoring session she had with Kneesocks. Oh, who was she kidding? She just taught the Akuma sisters how to play Yu-Gi-Oh, and no one died, got insulted, or injured in any way, shape, or form. Either her mom was trying to butter her up to lose tonight's match, or the greatest Devil of them all wanted something from her. She left with the black suit, though not before telling Sal to follow the Akumas to the main showcase room, and soon found herself standing behind the large, red curtain listening to Kona's speech. She made sure her duel disk was properly attached to her arm, turning it on several times to ensure that it wouldn't hit her, and moved her arm.

"Ah, Stocking-chan, you seem quite happy about this." Stocking turned to see the slick haired individual and frowned. How did he know her name, and why did he sound so familiar to her? The guy wasn't as stupid as he might of seemed, despite his pretty looks, as he shook his head and pulled out his wallet. "I should of known you wouldn't recognize me. Its me, Brief." One picture out of his waller later, and Stocking nearly found herself on the floor in shock. How the hell...How the HELL could Brief, Geek Boy, her friendly rival become such a catch?

"If you really are Brief, then tell me what was the candy I was confused to see you have in the Card Buffet?

"Athena's Blood Candies." Stocking nodded and coughed, hoping to cover the shock she had, and hugged him. She was sure it surprised him, but she didn't care.

"Glad to see you Brief. I hope you're prepared to get defeated by me in this." Brief hugged her back for a moment before pulling away with a smile on his face. It was a heartwarming smile that nearly made her melt in her heels, a piece of knowledge she didn't want him to see in the slightest.

"I can't wait to see what you can do with your deck now Stocking-chan! I don't think I'd like to face anyone else for this match." Brief was about to say something else, when he widened his eyes and chuckled. "So..." He scratched the back of his neck, looking away from her eyes. "I notice that you haven't told me to stop adding the suffixes to your name. Is there...is there a reason for that?" Stocking had to think about that one, as what he said was true in every word. She didn't like suffixes, especially since they lived in America, and not in Japan, China, or any of the oriental countries that required them. She would of threatened him already, or at least told him to stop, but now?

"Well," Stocking leaned forward, placing a hand upon his own, "maybe I'm getting use to you calling me with a suffix, Brief-_kun_." She pulled away, giggling as she walked to the other side of the stage in a sexy manner to get a bottle of water. She glanced back at Brief, relishing at how shocked he looked from what she just did, and his face was darker than the Akuma's skin. Priceless! She only had time to drink half the bottle of water, since Kona was getting rather close to ending his speech and showing the current basic model of duel disk. She was happy there was a tv for them to watch the event from before they went ahead with their duel, as it allowed her to see what he was going to do with the duel disk.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen. I have a special treat for you all! I've talked about the duel disk and how it will revolutionize the gaming industry. I've shown you videos about how easy it is to use and how it won't cause injury with the flying 3D projectors; however, I haven't shown you how it truly is used in a duel! So, without further adue, help me welcome Stocking Anarchy and Briefers Rock, the two who will show us how the future of Yu-Gi-Oh and interactive gaming will take place!"

"Well, Brief-kun," Stocking looked to the other side of the stage, where brief was putting his deck into the slot of the duel disk, "you ready?" Before he could answer, the curtain was pulled, revealing the two to the guests Kona invited. A majority of them clapped, with the exception of her sister, who was sitting at a table surrounded by black suits, and the Akuma sisters, who were sitting with a blue skinned man she didn't recognize. She waved to the crowd, as did Brief, earning more applause until Kona pointed to the two screens that appeared above the banister.

"These two will play a simple duel going by the regular rules. Each opponent will have eight thousand life points, one of the two will go first by random choice, and the first person whose life points go to zero, or who has no more cards in thier deck loses. If our lovely assistants will please turn on their duel disks, we'll chose who shall go first!" She raised her arm, activating the duel disk and watched as the projectors shot off the disk, with one landing on the edge of the stage while the other landed a few feet away from the curtain.

"I hope you're the one who goes first Stocking! If not, this duel will most likely end before it can begin!"

"Oh you can go to hell Geek Boy!" Stocking shouted in a joking manner, earning a grin from him in response. One coin toss on the tv screen later, and Stocking soon found herself sticking her tongue out at Brief as she was chosen to go first. She was glad that she didn't have to shuffle her deck, as the duel disk did it for her, and watched as Brief drew his five cards.

"Now then, whenever you two are ready..."

"LETS DUEL!" She and Brief shouted at the same time, earning a cheer from the crowd as their life points appeared on the screen, as well as on their duel disks. She grinned at Brief as she looked at her starting hand. Oh, she had just about everything she needed to get ahead of the game.

"I draw, set one monster and a card down and end my turn." Though the cards were face down, she was amazed at how large the cards looked in their 3D form. Brief grinned and placed his hand on his deck.

"I hope you have something planned for me, as I got a good hand. I draw, and summon **Goblindbergh**!" The small, level four monster appeared by flying around Brief, causing her to widen her eyes as it grinned at her. The propeller stopped moving, but she was sure that it was ready to hit her monster instantly. "And I activate his effect, by special summoning **Feedback Warrior**-"

"No xyz summoning for you Geek Boy!" Stocking interrupted by pressing the button for the card she set down on the first turn. "I activate **Compulsory Evacuation Device**, sending** Feedback Warrior** back to the hand!" It was funny to see the machine appear right where **Feedback Warrior** appeared, as the machine glowed a bright pink, making it shoot into the air and break apart into colorful pixels.

"Either way, thanks to **Goblindbergh's** effect, its now in defense position, preventing you from getting to my life points easily. Also, I'll set down two face downe to end my turn." Stocking frowned at the two cards, but nodded and sent her trap to the graveyard, knowing its intended job was done. With one more look to the hand, she drew her next card.

"I activate** Swords of Revealing Light**!" She stopped talking to watch as three beautiful broadswords made of white energy surrounded Brief, with a large star hanging over his head. "This prevents you attacking me for three turns, and I summon **Fabled Raven**. I'll go further by activating its effect, by discarding a card from my hand to the grave, it gains an additional level, as well as 400 attack until the end up turn." Her monster was suddenly covered by a black aura, making the man flex its sharp appendages towards Brief's monster. "That's not all! Thanks to the effect of the card I discarded, I can special summon** Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World**!"

"Amazing," Kona shouted from his spot, "Stocking was able to special summon quite the powerful monster, as well as giving her other monster a power boost!" Despite the crowd cheering for her, she looked at Brief's fingers, as they were pointed towards the buttons on his duel disk, and knew she would be walking right into a trap if she attacked with Goldd. Speaking of Goldd, he looked sinister and truly evil, especially with the battle axe he held. It might cost her a monster, but she knew she had to do it.

"I'll attack with **Fabled Raven**! Slice that warrior to sushi!" Raven went towards the goblin with both of its appendages ready to slice the monster's head with ease, only for an odd plate of spiky silver armor to coat the monster, killing hers.

"I activate **Sakuretsu Armor**, which destroys your attacking monster. So say bye to your tuner monster Stocking!"

"I end my turn." It didn't hurt her much, since she had another tuner in her hand, which was also a fiend type monster, and her ace, which will take down any of Brief's monsters with ease.

"I draw and activate **Mystical Space Typhoon**, destroying your swords!" A small tunnel of wind struck her spell card, destroying it, as well as the swords that surrounded Brief, at the same time. She knew what was coming next, he practically screamed it to the world. "I normal summon **Feedback Warrior** and use its effect to change** Goblindbergh's** level to 3, and overlay them to xyz summon **Number 17: Leviathan Dragon**!" Despite how silly his newest warrior looked, with the speakers that decorated its outfit, seeing his xyz monster come to life right before her very eyes was a stunning sight to behold. Its six bat-like wings allowed it to hover over him, allowing the beast to stare at Goldd as if it was a snack.

"Let me guess, you're going to detatch one of its units to give it a five hundred attack boost, right?"

"Exactly Stocking! You really have learned your stuff during the week, but its time to say goodbye to your dark world monster. I'm attacking with my dragon!"

"You're right Brief, I will say goodbye, but not for the reason you think!" Right as the dragon would of came towards her monster, an angel wing, as well as a full bat wing, defended Goldd, causing it to be replaced by her ace card. "By sending a fiend on the field, like Goldd, and this **Dark Tinker** in my hand to the grave, I can special summon **Darkness Neosphere** from my hand!" Neosphere looked stunning, that was all she could say about her one of a kind monster, and she wasn't the only one to think it either, as the crowd went wild with their cheering and applause.

"Oh wow! This I wasn't expecting!" Brief called out, looking at his dragon and at his hand. She knew he could do nothing against her 4000 atk/def monster, as his strongest monster was that Hieratic monster, and it was a thousand points down. "I end my turn then."

"Thank you. I draw!" The monster she drew would of helped if she didn't have Neosphere out, but it was worthless at the moment, especially with whatever trap card he still had on his side of the field. "I think its time to put your dragon out of its misery. **Darkness Neosphere**! Show that monster what a true flying monster can do!" Oddly enough, a weird, crappily made scarecrow appeared in front of her monster, preventing it from moving at all.

"Sorry, but I'm using my **Scrap-Iron Scarecrow**, preventing your monster from attacking mine. Also, I can reuse it every turn by flipping it face down, rather than sending it to the grave." She had to admit, as much as Brief was slippery as an eel, he was protecting his monsters pretty well, kinda like she did in their first game. With nothing else she could do, she ended her turn, glaring at Brief's side of the field. Right as he was about to draw his card, the doors to the room were forced open, causing the two, as well as most of the guests, to turn, and she couldn't believe what she saw.

"Louis?" It was the nerd that killed himself, from what her mother said, except he was glaring at her with yellow eyes she was sure he hadn't had before. Behind him were the two nerds that followed him everywhere, though they too were different. Instead of seeming fearful or cocky, they acted more along the lines of mindless drones, which added to their awkward look. Louis turned towards her, locking eyes, and pointed towards her and only her.

"Stocking**_...YOU WILL DIE!"_** Instantly, he changed, with his body taking on the colorscheme of a Ghost, but it didn't stop there. He grew long, black wings that promised to slap innocents to the walls surrounding them, and his head grew into that of a dragon. By the time his body was done changing, she recognized that it looked similar to Rainbow Dragon, except a different colorscheme, had two additional heads to call its own, and had a pair of deadly looking claws. **_"I'LL KILL YOU STOCKING! I'LL KILL YOU AND EVERYONE HERE FOR TAKING WHAT IS MINE!"_**

-Author Note-

If you read the whole chapter, congrats! You're just about there to the ending of this intro arc! Pat yourselves on the back and continue reading this and my other stories if they fit your interests. I honestly didn't expect to bring the Akuma sisters into learning the game. Sure, they were going to be at the event whether they liked it or not, but not for them to try and get into dueling. If I do have them learn on it, I'm sure they'll going to have a rule abiding deck, aka a shut down deck, and be quite challenging to face. Now then, onto the few reviews I got last chapter.

**Snow299**: Thank you for your review, and I'm glad you like the story so far. I do hope this chapter meets your expectations!

**The Lord of Pages**: As usual, thank you for your review, and I'm glad to hear you own some LVs I don't own. I always wanted Silent Magician and the swordsman, but could never get a hand on them without losing that hand in the process in trades. Don't know what to tell you about Gainax, but it seems like each main character has SOME parent issues. Naota from FLCL deals his his father, who ends up being replaced by a cyborg-ish thing depending if you go by the anime or manga, and in the manga his grandfather is blown up with a bomb he placed with a friend at one of the buildings. Shinji from Evangelion has issues all over the place, and I don't want to get started on the other series...

Either way, I do hope you all enjoy this story! It pleases me to see reviews, favorites, and alerts, but reviews are the most delightful thing to see. Until next time, and please review!


	7. Arc 1's End: Unknown Facts Come to Light

Stocking didn't know what to think at the moment. She was dueling against Brief in the match that would show him, as well as the general public, that she was the better duelist, even if only she and Brief would know as to why she was so determined to win in the first place. Her **Darkness Neosphere** stood tall with the sinister aura that made the semi-peaceful expression on her face unnoticeable, was what prevented Brief's **Number 17: Leviathan Dragon** from attacking her a turn ago. Sure, his **Scrap-Iron Scarecrow** prevented her from destroying his mighty Xyz monster, but it was weaker than her ace, and would still be 1000 points short even if he detatched the second material.

Then, everything fell apart after Louis forced his way into the room. Not only was he a Ghost, but he was a stage 2 Ghost, a term that meant he could transform into something more dangerous than his base form. If she had time to enjoy the battle before her, she would of made a pun about how he acted like a Lv monster, jumping from Lv 4 to Lv 8, but sadly, she didn't have that luxury, and proceeded to fling her high heels at the dragon Ghost, watching them bounce pathetically off its body.

**_"Is that the best you could do bitch? HERE'S MY REPLY!"_** Louis opened its mouth and shot a few large energy blasts, an attack that would of killed her on the spot if she was anyone else. However, she was Stocking Anarchy, an Angel of Heaven, and she had Stripe 1&2 by her side, and quickly transformed them into their combat form in order to slice the incoming sphere in half, somehow making them hit the stage around her.

_'I should probably call back the projectors shouldn't I?'_ Stocking thought to herself before she realized that Louis was gliding towards her with all three heads collecting energy for some attack, and ran towards him with Stripe 1&2 connecting to the hilt, spinning them to create her offensive shield. However, the two dragon heads separated from the body, taking on a more metallic form than the Rainbow Dragon-ish form Louis had, and were going to trap her. If she jumped above the two, then she'd leave herself open for Louis to bite her, although she could of possibly used one of the two metal dragons as a stepping stone to get above Louis and stab his head. If she stayed on the ground; however, she would be crushed by the two metal dragons, which was an outcome she didn't like at all.

"Jump now!" Stocking jumped, widening her eyes at the sight of Panty, who somehow obtained a second pair of panties, and transformed Blacklace into an automatic rifle and began to release a horde of bullets upon Louis, causing him to fly off path and collide into the wall. Seeing the main threat gone for a short amount of time, she focused on the two metal dragons before her, watching as they were about to fly upwards to swallow her whole, when one of them was pelted by smoke bombs, causing it to pause and enter a coughing fit. This random distraction was what she needed to stab the other dragon in its eye.

_'If its body is metal, then striking at it would be pointless. So I need to go for the one thing that isn't metal...'_ "Its eye!" Despite the loud, painful scream that came from the dragon, her wound wasn't deep enough to reach its brain, allowing it to slap her down to the floor with its tail, yet made no further moves to crush her. She was lucky to not have a broken bone, though her right shoulder was now out of place, a simple fix. Before she could make an attempt to put her shoulder back in place, Louis came upon her with hate in his eyes, and its teeth covered in its blood. Did he bite himself, was the thought that entered her mind as she tried to jump away.

Tried, being the key word, as a well place slam of one of the dragon's tails made the ground shake, msking her lose her footing and land on her butt, right as Louis came upon her and was ready to release the small burst of energy that it collected in its mouth. This was the end. She couldn't dodge fast enough, and even if she could, she'd be slapped back in front of Louis by one of the metal dragons, who were giving Panty more trouble than she thought possible. A flash of light later, and she heard a loud, pain filled scream, but it wasn't her own. No, one look showed her Brief standing in front of her with his arms spread out in front of him. What was odd about the sight before her was the familiar sight of the card that, in a way, peaked her interest in Yu-Gi-Oh.

"**Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis**..." It stood as large as Louis, its golden armor shining brighter than the sun, though its energy wings, she was sure they were energy and not real, glowed as they folded in front of it, blocking the oncoming attack Louis sent at her. Brief plucked three cards from his hand, why he still had his full hand of cards, she didn't know, and watched as he send them to the graveyard.

"I activate Overlord of Heliopolis' effect! By detatching one material from it, I can send as many monsters from my hand or side of the field to the graveyard in order to destroy an equal amount on the field! Heliopolis, release your might upon our enemy!" The mighty Xyz dragon roared, flapping its wings once that sent a pair of bright red energy at the metal dragons, slicing them in half. As for Louis, it recieved the direct attention of the mighty dragon, as it slammed itself into the Ghost and bit its neck.

**_"I SHALL NOT DIE!"_ **Louis slapped its tail at Heliopolis' head, stunning it long enough for it to shoot a quick energy blast at its head, which allowed it to escape its hold and began to glow. She lost track of what was happening, as she noticed that Brief was not only bleeding around the back of his head, but was showing signs of fainting by how he began to sway from side to side. He looked at her, his eyes showing just how exhausted he must of been and smiled at her.

"I'm glad...So glad that I could protect you this time...Stocking-cha..." Brief suddenly fell to the floor, his duel disk suddenly losing power to keep Heliopolis on the field.

"Brief!" A sudden blast of energy was what prevented her from reaching him, causing her to return her sight upon Louis, who now had the dead metal dragons absorbed into its body. What was different about this fusion was, whereas the three dragon heads were lively, there was only Louis's body, though the flesh of the dead dragons were covering the various wounds he gained during the battle. She didn't want Louis to reach Heaven. She didn't care about their personal history together, despite how pointless their meeting was. No, all she cared about was seeing this Ghost _dead_ before her feet like the _worm_ it is!

With no sign of warning, she threw Stripe 1 at Louis, making a sprint for Louis as the Ghost dodged the holy weapon. She stabbed the underbelly of the Ghost, running even faster, ignoring the feeling of its blood pouring on her back as she hoped to make it bleed out. It flew a bit off the ground, allowing her to grab Stripe 1 and channeled her hatrid into her weapons, hoping for Louis to come straight at her. As long as she aimed for its head, she should be able to kill it with ease.

_'That IT was once a human.'_ A voice spoke to her. It was true, Louis was once a male, a boy, who she somehow had a hand in killing. That didn't matter to her though, and was the main reason she referred to this Ghost as an it, despite it clearly having a gender. Her wish came true, she realized, as Louis glided towards her with a small onslaught of energy blasts coming her way. This time, she had no reason to worry about Brief, as she moved away from the stage he laid, and sliced each oncoming blast in half, angering Louis, who slammed its tail to the ground, causing the ground to shake.

**"DIE!"** Stocking and Louis shouted at the same time, though for their own reasons. Stocking, unlike last time, jumped at the right time, avoiding the intense vibrations that caused her trouble before, and landed on Louis' snout, performing a spinning slice with speed that would make a master green with envy. Despite feeling great joy at seeing the blood that poured from wound, she forgot about the exploding factor each Ghost had, and found herself hitting the wall HARD, and couldn't activate her Angel form to help her safely fly down to the floor. So, she couldn't help but to be surprised when she felt herself being grabbed by a pair of gentle arms, and felt the familiar feeling of the wind current a pair of wings provided, and turned to see the faint image of someone she didn't expect to see.

_"Stay safe..."_ The being said before disappearing before her eyes. Stocking didn't realize she was standing until she saw Panty and Kona running towards her with what looked to be a few doctors with stretchers coming her way. She felt the last remaing bit of strength she had leave her, and dropped Stripe 1&2 before falling to the ground.

_'Mother...why?'_ Was her last thought before she knew no more.

* * *

"Why did you save her?" The being, unexpecting the sudden intruder, turned to the source of the voice and brought upon the intruder's throat its armored wing. This merely made the intruder chuckle with a feral grin upon its face, a sight that made the being sick to its stomach. "You knew that she would of reached out to her subconscious and did the exact same thing my chosen did earlier."

"You don't know that." It replied, simply using its wing to slap the intruder to the wall, rather than allow itself to fall to the temptation of piercing the intruder's throat, no matter how good of an idea it sounded. The intruder chuckled once again, causing it to wonder why the intruder had to love pain to the point of obsession. "Just because your cursed pawn has the ability to tap into darkness and bring about such a creature doesn't mean that she will do the same!"

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong. You felt the energy spike and intervened before it could come to bear its fruit to her. Then again, I suppose I shouldn't be so concerned about her ability now should I? I should question the reason you saved the daughter that you hate so much."

"Shut up, agent of Hell!" She shouted, holy energy pulsing from her very soul to collide into the intruder before her eyes. Though the intruder showed an expression of pain, he stood in place with his eyes never leaving hers. Why did he have the ability to follow her at every turn while she walked among the mortals?

"Ah, but I am not like THAT MAN, now am I?" That made her appear behind him, her hands wrapped around his throat with every intent of strangling the life out of his body. However, she was met by a trio of energy swords blocking her path, causing her to slap the wall with her wings and watched as the broke under her strike. "You mad? Well, it doesn't matter now does it? As long as those two are together, the energy those two hone inside them shall grow, and they'll be attracted to one another no matter how far you pull them apart."

"It will not come if I have anything to say about it!"

"But you can't." The man interjected, causing her to frown and prepared herself to strike him down. "You made it impossible for yourself to have any say about Stocking, as she must collect the coins of Heaven in order to be able to return home, but with more than half of her coins being taken from Garterbelt, she can't return in time before her power fully manifests. Not to mention all of the damages and problems she causes without her sister's aid, giving reason of the council of Heaven to keep your daughters on Earth until the end of the world itself. Then again, do you really think your daughter really wants to return to the side of the same woman who-"

"Don't you **dare** bring him up! He is dead and his memory shall be honored as such!" The man laughed at her, disappearing in a dark mist that causing her holy energy to shiver at the feeling. Why did he have such a connection to that twisted energy?

"Continue tricking yourself if you must, but I have important things to do soon, and it wouldn't benefit me at all to waste my time with a foolish widow who can't come to light of her own actions. Until the end my dear." When she was sure that the foul energy was gone from the area she relaxed a bit, looking down at the hospital where her daughters, as well as that cursed boy were resting. She could only pray that, in time, Stocking would cease her hate for her, and that she would see reason as to why she did what she did to their father. With that, she disappeared, knowing that she would have to ensure that her own plans wouldn't falter to that man's agenda.

* * *

When Stocking woke up the next day, she was surprised to see Sal and Panty sleeping on separate chairs, each covered by a blanket most likely provided by a nurse. It wasn't hard for her to tell that she was in a hospital, as she had to visit several children in the past who were injured by their Ghost pruifications. Though, she couldn't deny her confusion as to why they brought her here rather than take her back to the church where she could rest and be out of bed in a day, two tops if she didn't have enough sweets during the first day. she looked at the desk to her right and saw her duel disk was laying on top of it, deck and projectors in their proper places, a sight that caused her to smile. Not a drop of Ghost blood got on it, which was great since Ghost blood was VERY troublesome to remove from clothing, and her cards were clean as well.

"Heh, glad to see you're alright Stocking-chan." Stocking widened her eyes and turned to her left. There, in the bed right next to hers, was Brief, who had his head wrapped in bandages and a bandaid on his left cheek, smiling at her. Right as she was about to speak, and attempt to escaping her bed, Brief shook his head and pointed to Sal and Panty. "Don't, they just went to sleep not too long ago Stocking. They've been worried sick about you."

"I can understand Sal..." Stocking glanced at her sister, who looked as if something was troubling her in her dream. "But Panty?" Brief nodded, and pointed at her sister.

"She was refusing to leave your side until Sal slapped her and told her that you wouldn't want her to act like a bully to get her way in such a situation. She was the one who, from what Sal said, grabbed your projectors and had Kona shut down your duel disk since she didn't want to break it." Stocking couldn't help but to frown at the smile Brief had as he talked about Panty, and felt an odd feeling crawl into her heart.

"You're not saying all of this because you're back to crushing on my sister, are you?" Brief shook his head and waved his arms a bit towards her.

"I only have feelings for you Stocking-chain! Wait, no, what I meant was..." She couldn't stop herself from giggling as the odd sensation was crushed by the happiness she felt from his words. She smirked at him and looked away.

"Just because you have feelings for me doesn't mean you can continue to call me Stocking-chan Brief." A thought suddenly struck her, causing her to glance back at her duel disk before she returned her attention to the nerd by her side. "So what has Kona said about our duel? Are we going to duel again in order to showcase the duel disks, or do we not get to duel like that again?" Brief smiled at her, but shrugged and looked up at the roof.

"Kona was thankful for what you did to exterminate the Ghost, but he said that our duel wouldn't be recorded as an official match due to that interruption. He also said that, while he can't mark either of us a winner, he can give us another shot at dueling one another, though he left out any details as to how he was going to do that." That made sense, but she didn't like being kept in the dark. She was kept in the dark for most of her life as she grew up, and, despite how nice and playful Kona was to them, still didn't mean he was as good and pure hearted as he made himself out to be. Brief began to speak again, causing her to return her attention. "I, personally, believe you won since you had the stronger monster on the field. If I somehow had my Utopia on the field, then I might of found a way to get past your Darkness Neosphere, but since I didn't, you would of won."

"Nope," Stocking replied as she shook her head, "You had that Scrap-Iron Scarecrow out, which would of made it impossible until I could summon Adreus, since I forgot to add in Mystical Space Typhoons I believe." At that, the two shared a short, quiet laugh, looking at one another before they looked away. She suddenly felt a yawn come from her and suddenly found herself laying down on the bed, rather than sitting up, and turned to Brief, who did the same.

"We should get back to bed. The nurse said that you should be able to leave tomorrow, though I'm sure Panty will pull you out within the next few hours. We've only been here for about eight hours since the incident, if you were wondering." That made sense, only because it was still dark outside, leaving her unsure as to how many days passed by, though she was happy to find out not a day went past her.

"Yea, you're right. Goodnight Brief-kun."

"G-goodn-night Stocking-chan!" Brief whispered in a happy tone before turning to his side, leaving his back exposed. She could of sworn she saw a mark on the back of his neck, but she couldn't tell with the lights being off. So, with nothing else to do, she closed her eys, thinking about how she hoped she could leave with her sister, Sal, and Brief tomorrow so she could take them back to the church and make them some sweets. Or, in Panty's case, a batch of spicy salsa as thanks for helping her.

_'Well, in Sal's case its more of a way to show off that I'm okay.'_ Stocking tagged on to her initial thought, unknowingly causing her to recall how Brief's Heliopolis was able to actually damage Louis, something that should of been impossible, yet was not. Sadly, the thought would leave her mind as she entered the realm of sleep, and wouldn't be brought back to light for quite the while, as all she would dream about is dueling against Brief and Sal, with Panty and Garterbelt cheering from the sidelines as Kona announced the match to the crowd of fans surrounding them all.

-Author Notes-

As usual, I don't own Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D, or Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal. I got a hell of a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh cards, as well as a Stocking keychain as a gift from my girlfriend, but that is it. Anyway, hello one and all! I apologize for the long wait to an update, but here it is, and I have decided that this story shall be one I'll be continuing. I do apologize, again, for leaving it off at such a point in the story; however, this is the end of the introduction arc, and the next arc of the story will be QUITE interesting, if I do say so myself. Now then, time to respond to reviews!

**Snow299:** As usual, thank you for reviewing and I'm pleased to hear that you liked the chapter.

**HotelKatz:** The blaming didn't happen in this chapter, though it might happen in the next one. I'm glad to see someone is interested in the Akuma sisters learning how to play the game!

**The Lord of Pages:** Yea, I'm sure that if he really was able to stay as sexy Brief all the time he would get some mad tail from every girl, and possibly a few guys, in every episode. Then again, I'm glad he wasn't shown as sexy Brief until the end of the series. I do hope the scene with their mother amused you, yet also gave you a bit of a headache to figure out what exactly they're talking about.

As usual, please **review** everyone!


	8. Arc 2: To Enjoy Life

Hello one and all! I thank you all for reading the last chapter, as well as those who were kind enough to leave me a few reviews for the chapter! I'm actually glad that no one was able to understand who exactly Stocking's mother was talking to, or where their conversation was going. What is to come is something quite unique, and it would be a shame if I did something that everyone could easily see through! Either way, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh in any way, shape, or form (except their addictive cards), as well as Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, though I am happy to note I FINALLY got the season 1 box set this weekend!

"Normal Talking."

_'Mental Thoughts.'_

**"Card Names!"**

-Chapter 8-

"Hey Panty! Are you going to see that one guy from the mall again? If so, can I ride with you?" Stocking asked from the couch as she looked at the TV with an aimless expression upon her face. She glanced at her older sister, who stopped mid-step from leaving the church and turned to her.

"No, I am not, and it isn't any of your business as to where I go! Fuck!" With that, Panty stepped out and slammed the door hard, nearly causing it to break off its hinges, as well as earned a small glare from her. A simple "No" would have been okay as well.

"Then again, ever since that duel against Brief, things have changed here at the church." After that match a month ago, where neither she or Brief were declared a winner due to an unfortunate interruption from a Ghost, Panty started to isolate herself, preferring to travel by herself and stay away for most of the day. There was even a day that she caught her sister going through her stuff, tossing her cards everywhere, throwing clothes on the floor, and even flipped her bed for something that Stocking had no idea she was hoping to find. Whatever her sister was doing was causing a rift between them, which was something that she didn't wish to feel again, even after the incident with her Ghost love.

Garterbelt was trying to be more fair to her by ordering Panty to hunt for more Ghosts, help fix the church, and even used the two to raise some money for important repairs. Mind you, their fund raising was basically Panty being a paid whore and him using her in a number of cooking challenges and eating contests, but they made more than enough cash to fix the church. The best part of that was that she got paid for her contests, which meant she could invest some of it into her bank account, or more importantly, getting more cards! Speaking of cards, she noticed that Garterbelt had gotten rid of the Crystal Beasts she gave him as bookmarks, which kinda made her sad, as he used them for several days after she gave them to him.

Her thoughts were broken by the vibrations of her phone, causing her to glance at the caller and smiled as she answered the phone. "Yes Brief?"

**"Good afternoon Stocking-chan!"** She rolled her eyes at the chan suffix, Brief's trait that only showed when he talked to her. It had some cute moments, but she considered her enjoying it due to the influx of manga she took a liking to after going to Sal's house two weeks ago. She had a wall's worth of manga, which equaled around eight hundred, possibly even a thousand books, and she couldn't deny her curiosity at some of her collection.

"I take it you want me to head over to the shop Brief?"

**"Actually, Sal wanted to duel you and I to see if her newest changes to her deck were worth keeping, and I wanted to know if it would be okay for us to head to the church?"** Sal Andrews, Yu-Gi-Oh player for about three, possibly six years if she recalled correctly, but took some time off in order for reprints to come out for the expensive yet broken cards to come out. She was the only girl human friend she has, since Brief took the category for only boy human friend, who preferred her Light types and Fairies, and enjoyed trying out different builds for it. Stocking met the girl randomly during her training period before she was to duel Brief, which she stilled smiled about to this day, and was glad to take the time to talk to her that day.

"Yea, I don't mind being her little taste tester for her newest deck. Anything interesting about it Brief?"

**"Only that she might be up to speed, whatever that means. Anyway, I'm going to close up the shop and head over to Sals to pick her up before heading to you. See you in a bit Stocking-chan!"**

"Goodbye Brief-kun." She chuckled as the last thing she heard from the phone was Brief enter a small coughing fit, most likely due to her surprising him with her suffix, before turning off the TV and went upstairs to her room. Not much changed in her private sanctuary, as her stuffed mascots sat on her dresser, her clothes were neatly kept in her closet, and there was no longer a mess upon her floor. What did change was the addition of a desk with two file cabinets under it that stood a few feet away from her bed, which was where she placed all of her card boxes and binders. On top of the desk was her journal, untouched as she left it a few hours ago, the pencil she used to write with, and her only Yu-Gi-Oh deck, the very same she used against Brief, with a few alterations of her own.

It was a shame that she couldn't use her duel disk as much as she would of liked, as both she and Brief agreed that it wouldn't be fair to use them while Sal didn't have one of her own, so they stuck to table top gaming unless Sal asked to see them duel with them. Luckily, her friend was supposedly getting one before the end of this week, so she hoped that she could be the first to duel against her with a duel disk. Speaking of duel disks, she did some of her training exercises with it on from time to time, as she didn't want its additional weight to get in the way of her slaying some Ghosts if she ever had to break away from a duel to stop one, which was another topic that caused her some worry.

The lack of Ghost attacks, to humans, was a sign of peace and good blessings to the lord. To an Angel, it was a sign of warning and caution, as it meant that either someone was in control of the Ghost population, or something was preventing them from showing up and attacking everything in sight. She hoped someone was controlling them, as whatever preventing them from attacking would simply cause the Ghosts to anger, creating a chain reaction of instant chaos for the town when they were finally released upon the city. Sadly, Garterbelt couldn't spare any Heavens for an upgrade to their Ghost Detector, Brief's PKE meter couldn't reach a good range, and she couldn't buy anything upon the scale she needed to track them.

There was also no sign of the Akuma sisters in Daten City, a fact that frightened her more than cheered her up. While she knew they had nothing to do with Louis, which was something that Panty still questioned about the attack, the fact that they were still hiding wasn't a concept that she enjoyed. It was possible that the two were on a long-term mission in another city, such as Oten City, but she couldn't be sure until she asked them, which was impossible at this point. She was about to add another thought about the two Demons when her phone rang once more, revealing the only unknown number she knew by heart, and ignored it.

_'Why does she have to keep on trying to talk to me, rather than take the hint and let me have my peace?'_ Stocking turned off her phone, deck, and her private binder before she went downstairs, hoping to take the thought of her mom off by looking over her binder. Unlike the other binders and tins that were in the file cabinets, this particular binder only held her favorite cards, as well as a few staples for her deck in the event she needed to replace anything. She took the time to review her binder, noting a few cards she was excited to see, such as **Evigishki Merrowgeist**, one of the two Hidden Arsenal 6 Xyz monsters she was actually interested in, her second copy of **Chaos Hunter**, which was kept out of her deck as running the two together didn't offer her a benefit at this time, and **Watapon**, because who DOESN'T like the thought of cuddling with a fluffy marshmallow?

And no, **Marshmallon** didn't count, as its shape reminded her more of a toy than a candy.

"Hiya Stocking!" Said Angel looked up from her binder and turned to the door, where she saw Sal and Brief from the window, smiling at her. She also noticed that Brief wore a blush on his face that made her smirk, but she quickly opened the door and watched her two friends walk in with their normal card supplies. Backpacks were placed around the couch, Brief pulled out his deck and some burgers as Sal brought out her own cards, some Pepsi, and a pizza for them to eat either before or after their duels. The only time the pattern changed was if they went to Sal's house, as Stocking would bring over the deserts and a movie for them to watch near the end of their time together.

"So who is going up against who first guys? I want to see what this new deck has Sal, but if Briefers here got first dibs then that's fine too." Sal grinned and went into the kitchen, which was the place they played when they weren't in her room, and sat down.

"I'm dueling you Stocking!" She stated with a grin. "Between you and Brief, I have a higher chance of defeating you since you're newer at the game than he is!" Stocking didn't know if she should frown or not at her reason for picking her for the duel, so she stuck with simply shuffling her deck and separated her extra deck to the left hand side of the table. One coin flip later, where Stocking picked tails, she watched as Sal drew her additional card, signifying that she was going to go first in this duel. "I'll start things off by summoning **Dunames Dark Witch** and set a facedown." It was pleasing to see Sal actually summon a decently strong monster on the first turn, considering how choppy her deck once was in the past. Either way, Stocking glanced at her hand once again and knew she could simply run over the 1800 attack points with a monster of her own.

"My turn," Stocking drew her new card, **Pot of Avarice**, and slightly winced at the sight of it, "I activate the spell card **Fissure**, which destroys a monster on your side of the field that has the lowest attack points." Since Sal only had one monster, she'd have to pick the witch, which would leave her open for attack, in theory at least. She didn't want to waste a **Heavy Storm** on a single card in the back row, as that would be a waste. "I continue by summoning my **Slate Warrior** and attacking you-"

"I activate the trap card **Threatening Roar**, preventing you from declaring an attack this turn!" Stocking could only nod and end her turn. She didn't have any traps in her hand at the moment, and knew that setting one of her other spells as a bait card could be a waste, especially with the staple card **Mystical Space Typhoon** being seen in every deck at the moment. "I draw, and start this turn off by special summoning **Cyber Dragon**." Oh, this wasn't going to be sweet, that was for sure. "Then I normal summon a **Shining Angel** and attack your warrior with my dragon!" Since **Cyber Dragon** is a 2100 attack monster, she'd be able to destroy her **Slate Warrior** (1900) with ease, which would leave her **Shining Angel** to clear more of her life points. "And I'll use my **Shining Angel** to attack as well."

_'Well shit.'_ Stocking thought. _'I'm already at 6400, and its only the second turn of the game. I guess Sal really has improved the recipe that is her deck.'_ "My turn I take?" After seeing Sal nod, she drew her card. Oh, how life simply loved her! "I'll start things off by normal summoning **Fabled Raven** in attack mode (1300/1000)." Fabled Raven is quite the unique card, as not only is it a tuner monster, but its attack and level can be increased depending upon how many cards she discards each turn. However, the increase only lasts until the end of the turn, so she was quite happy that Sal made a miscalculation to her recipe of a turn. "I'll activate his effect, by discarding three cards from my hand to the graveyard, he becomes a level 5 monster, as well as gains 1200 attack, making this little cupcake a tasty cake of pain." If she was using a duel disk, she could picture the monster growing in size and in muscle, making him one tasty treat for her to please. "However, that isn't all that comes out of the oven. Thanks to discarding it by an effect, I can special summon **Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World** (2300/1400) from the grave."

"Oh crap, both of your monsters are stronger than mine!" Sal stated, which was true on all accounts. With her **Fabled Raven** now having 2500 attack, she could run over either her **Cyber Dragon** or her **Shining Angel**, and she already had an idea as to what was going to be her target.

"Yep, so I'll attack your angel with Raven, and leave your **Cyber Dragon** to fall to my Dark World monster." With that said, she watched as Sal sent both of her monsters to the graveyard, as well as take 1300 points of damage. She was still behind Sal in terms of life points (6400), but she knew she could get above her with ease. "So, I take it you're going to salvage the remains of that cupcake batter and use your **Shining Angel's** effect to bring out a monster?"

"Why yes I am!" Despite said angel being a search card for more monsters, its usefulness was limited to the Light attribute, as well as a restriction of attack points, which was one of the reasons Stocking never used the card in her deck. "I'll being out **Spirit of the Harp** (800/2000), and I'll draw-"

"I never said I was done with my turn Sal." Stocking interjected, causing the girl to look at her with a frown.

"You attacked me already. The only thing you can do is set a card, which I'm sure you won't. So what else can you do?" Stocking simply smiled at her before pushing her two monsters together and plucked out a card from her extra deck.

"I can do this. Since **Fabled Raven** is, for this turn only, a level 5 monster, I can overlay the two in order to Xyz summon **Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon** (2600/1700) in attack mode!" This particular Xyz monster was the reason she played Goldd in the deck, as it was easy to bring out Goldd with her Fabled's effect, use them to attack, and follow up with a stronger monster that would make sure her opponent couldn't target her Fabled for an attack next turn. "Now it is your turn Sal."

"Why thank you queen of the fiends." Sal replied with a small frown before drawing her card. Whatever she drew, she didn't look too happy about it. "I put **Spirit of the Harp** in defense mode and activate **Monster Reincarnation**, which, in exchange for discarding a card to the grave, I can add a monster card to the hand rom said grave." A standard card in a Dark World of Fabled deck, as both decks relied on discarding effects to bring them out. "I bring back my **Shining Angel** (1400/800), and overlay my two monsters to Xyz summon **Number 39: Utopia**!"

_'Well, it is certainly more useful in this situation than **Photon** Papilloperative.'_ Stocking considered, since that was one of Sal's cards that never left her deck, despite all the changes she made to it. When asked why she never took the card out from the extra deck, she replied that the first pack of cards she bought were from Galactic Overlord, and it was the first rare of the pack, hence it had sentimental value to her.

"I set two cards then end my turn. Your move Stocking."

_'Now she starts playing smart. Great for me.'_ Stocking thought sarcastically as she declared her draw phase. If she had another monster in her hand, or Goldd, she would be happy to see her Chaos Hunter; however, at the moment all she was to this situation was a third wheel. "I detach one material from Adreus to destroy your Utopia before ending my turn." She detached Fabled Raven first, considering she could use it more than Goldd at the moment, though she had a feeling it would be the next to end up there.

"Wait," Sal started with a confused look on her face, "why didn't you target one of my back row?" At that, Stocking turned Adreus over to her and allowed her to read the effect. The only way she could of used her fiend's effect was is she had a face up continuous spell, trap card, or even a field spell. Sadly, she didn't have any of those, so she was left to target her Utopia, which was great, but left her back row untouched. "Okay, thanks for letting me read it. My turn!" Sal drew as Stocking placed Adreus back on her side of the field, waiting to see what Sal would do next. "I set this card face down and end my turn."

_'At least I know it's a monster.'_ Stocking drew her next card, and she was happy to see it come at this point in time! She mentally said sorry to her **Chaos Hunter**, as it was about to be banished in a moment. "I activate **Allure of Darkness**, allowing me to draw two cards in exchange for removing one Dark type monster from my hand." Two cards later, and Stocking had the next piece to winning the duel. "I activate the continuous spell card **Gravekeeper's Servant**, which makes it so you have to discard a card from your deck to the graveyard if you want to attack me! I also normal summon **Archfiend Soldier** in attack mode (1900/1500), and send it to attack your face down card!"

"Carp! I activate my **Draining Shield**, which negates your attack and gives me life points equal to your monster's attack points." Great, not only did she help her opponent, she also made the gap between their life points larger!

"Well I can still attack with Adreus." With nothing left to do, despite Sal still having the one set card in her back row, she flipped her monster, revealing a **Light Effigy** (1500/0), before sending it to the grave. "I end my turn."

"I draw, set, and end my turn." Sal, like her, didn't enjoy having little in terms of field presence, so she could understand why her personality just changed from happy to annoyed. That still wasn't going to stop her from dueling though.

"I draw, set one, and end my turn." But, she could take a turn to see what her opponent has in store for her.

"My turn." Sal said slowly before she drew her card, which she put to the back row, and ended her turn. One card later, Stocking placed a monster in defense mode before attacking with her **Arcifiend Soldier**. Luckily, for Sal at least, the girl activated **Half or Nothing**, forcing the Goth to pick between halving her creature's attack, or ending her battle phase.

"Alright, your turn." There was little she could do, at least until she figured out what Sal was saving that other trap card for. It had to be a trap, considering she looked at it during one of their battle phases, which could only mean she was saving it for something specific.

"My turn, and I set one before ending my turn." One more face down creature, which meant one more unknown for Stocking. Still, she had to play on, and drew her card.

_'Oh my,'_ Stocking thought with a light giggle, _'this will ruin her mood when I use it.'_ "I set one and end my turn." Sal looked at her before drawing her next card, set it on the field, and sacrificed her two facedown monsters, which turned out to be two **Shining Angels**, in order to tribute summon **Splendid Venus** (2800/2400). The level 8 monster had two nasty abilities that Stocking didn't like one bit. The first was that all non-Fairy type monsters lost 500 attack and defense points, which would make all of her monsters even weaker than they were against the Fairy. The second effect was, to a sense, worse as it ensured that all of her spell and trap cards could go off without being negated, which was why she flipped the trap card she put down.

"Com-**Compulsory Evacuation Device**?" Stocking nodded. It was the only thing she could do, as Sal looked as if she was going to cry and leave the game. Instead of leaving, she simply took her monster back to the hand before ending her turn, earning a bit of respect in her book. One card later, and Stocking activated the card she just drew, **Swords of Revealing Light**, ensuring that Sal couldn't attack for three turns, and went in with her two face up monsters, dealing 4500 points of damage in the process, which placed her at 4100.

"Its your turn Sal."

"I set one card and end my turn."

"Draw, I flip summon my **Damage Mage** (600/1200), normal summon **Creation Resonator** (800/600), and overlay them to Xyz summon **Grenosaurus** (2000/1900). I'll attack with **Grenosausus** first," Sal nodded and took the 2000 points, "follow through with **Archfiend Soldier**," now Sal only had 200 life points, "and end the game with Adreus."

"I activate **Magical Cylinder**, which negates the attack and deals damage to you equal to the attack!"

"Well played." Stocking said as she subtracted the loss of points, putting her at 3800. "You live to cook a final turn. Your move Sal."

"What can I say? Heart of the cards and all of that friendship stuff. My draw!" She drew her card, only to place it on top of the deck again. "I concede victory to you Stocking. At least I have a feeling as to where I should alter my deck now."

"You mean like last time?" At that, Sal chuckled before she began to put her cards away, only for Brief, who was watching from the sidelines, brought out his deck. Just by looking at him, Stocking knew he was going to try and make her happy by dueling, though she doubted that it would work.

"Hey, you didn't duel against me yet."

"You're right! Alright, let me shuffle my deck again and I'll be ready for you Brief!"

"So Stocking, do you think you're going to win our little bet?" The bet, oh how she wished that she could have controlled herself when it came to trying to beat Brief at Yu-Gi-Oh. It happened about a week after they were allowed to leave the hospital, a time that benefited Brief the most, as he was just in time to run the Return of the Duelist* sneak peek, which was something that Stocking decided to participate in as well. The promo card sucked, mostly since she didn't focus on Light monsters, and she lost most of her matches all thanks to a card that trolled her in two of her five packs.

**Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer**.

"I will win it, but not so soon." She replied, earning a grin from the nerd before he shuffled his deck once again. The details of the bet weren't complicated, but it was still a daunting task nonetheless. She was to summon out, at least once in front of Brief, her** Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer** in a match, which was quite a challenge since it is a Rank 10 Xyz monster that needs three level 10 materials to bring out. If she lost the bet, which she had about a month to win the bet, then she would have to allow Brief to alter her deck to whatever he desired; however, if she won the bet, then he would have to allow her to change his deck completely, a fact that didn't please Brief at all.

"I hope so, or else your precious Fiends will turn into Machines, or maybe even Plants. How does that sound Stocking? Would you like to weed out the competition with the scent of your Plant monsters?" Her reply came in the form of a gumball hitting him between the eyes, earning a small groan of pain to her pleasure. "Yatta, why do you have to be so mean Stocking-chan?" Right as she was about to answer, Sal looked up from her deck and raised her right arm.

"Oh! Oh, I know! She is so mean because she doesn't want to tell you how much she loves you more than her cakes!"

"Oh that is a lie!" Stocking shouted, only to twitch a little as Sal and Brief laughed at her reaction. The familiar ringtone to her phone caught her attention, causing her to step into the living room and accepted the call without missing a beat. "Hello?"

**"Ah, Stocking! I have great news for you and Brief!"** Kona's voice came out from her phone. Considering how loud he was yelling, whatever he wanted to say must of been very important. **"You and Brief, as well as your friend Sal if her duel disk registration form is the one I'm seeing, are the first to know about the, wait! I can't tell you everything about it! Just don't leave Daten City for anything. Neither of you three are to leave! If possible, please have Brief and Sal meet up at the church, where I'll come and pick you three up this Wednesday okay? Bye!"**

"What the hell?" Stocking mumbled to herself before shoving the phone into her pocket and glanced at her friends. They already started their match, with Sal going strong with a Utopia on the field, though Brief was right behind her with a **Chevalier De Fleur**, which made her wonder what Sal had planned to stop her red headed friend. With Kona's weird request out of her mind, she returned to the kitchen, happy to see that, for once, things were going good for her in life.

-Author's Note-

As usual, I hope everyone who read the chapter enjoyed it. I was going to write Brief's duel against Sal, and then follow-up with him against Stocking, but then I realized that I wouldn't have done Brief verse Sal fairly, seeing as Brief's deck hits off much faster than Sal's deck *a problem that I am trying to work around with the real life copy of her deck*. Now then, with the little symbol I placed around Return of the Duelist, that is a bit of important information, mostly since that is the most recent pack set that will be featured in this next arc, despite Abyss Rising already being up for grabs in most Walmarts and hobby shops everywhere. This doesn't mean that a legit prophecy, Madolche, or Geargia deck will be shown, unless I can borrow a deck or two from a few friends and showcase them on here, but it does mean that you are most likely to see the Xyz monsters that don't require too much restrictions. Anyway, onto the reviews!

**HotelKatz**: Why thank you for enjoying the last chapter. The scene in the middle of the chapter is a bit odd, I won't lie, but it does play some key facts that will be shown in later chapters. As for Panty, she'll be showing her opinion of the game real soon.

**The Lord of Pages**: I have an idea as to what I'm going to have Scanty and Kneesocks play, but I still need to gather up the necessary cards in order for it to happen. I might do a Destiny Hero deck, though just to have an excuse to actually buy the Legendary Collection 02 and the Ra Yellow Mega Packs, since I completely ignored those sets in favor of Magic for a few months. But I do agree that the E heroes did get a hell of a lot of support over the years, especially if you add in the Vision Heroes, the Masked Heroes, and the Evil Heroes.

Well, as usual everyone, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please tell me what you thought of it in a review. Until next time!


	9. Arc 2: To Bond and Try a Threeway

Hello to the readers, followers, and overall fan of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt fanfiction! I come to you with an update to Sugar, Geeks, and Card Games, Oh My! Now, I know that some people are waiting for my Naruto/Pokegirl crosses to get an update, and they deserve it, but I've been on an odd P&S high, you could say, so I'm working on getting all of those ideas out of my head before hitting the Naruto/Pokegirl stuff. Since there were only two reviews for the last chapter, I'm just going to reply to them here, rather than the end of the chapter like I normally do.

**Snow299**: Thank you for granting me some luck, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter.

**The Lord Of Pages**: I'm interested to hear as to what you think she might be looking for in Stocking's room, as you never know what Panty has her mind on when it comes to life in general. as for the Union monsters, they do get some support from time to time, and some archtypes, such as Dragunity and Vylon, do things that make their entire play style like a Union deck.

Either way, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Oh, and as usual, I don't own Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Yu-Gi-Oh, or anything that finds its little behind into this story. So here we go!

"Normal Talking."

_'Mental Thoughts.'_

**"Card Name."**

**"Electronical Device."**

-Chapter 9-

"Hey Stocking."

"Yes?"

"I'm bored. Do you want to hit the mall and shop around? I promise to even go into that porn book shop, F.A.P I think it's called, so you can buy the newest nerd book or random ass cards you like."

"It isn't called FAP, like the noise a lonely guy makes with his cock, or anything to deal with sex. It name is B.A.M., and I wouldn't go there just for cards or for those comic books! They happen to have quite a good cook book section that always appeals to my interests there."

"Oh, so is that why the last time I peeked around your shoulder I saw you reading that Rosario Vampire shit when you had a Mexican Recipe Book in front of it, hm?"

"Shut up," Stocking blushed at the truth Panty revealed, "Just go by yourself if you want to. You know that I just tend to get in the way of your guy hunting when you go to the mall anyway."

"Must everything be about guys with you Stocking?" Panty groaned and looked away from her, though it wasn't her avoidance of making eye contact that made the Goth twitch. Oh no, it was the accusation that she talked about nothing but guys. Her, the Gothic girl who loved nothing but sweets, bondage, and Yu-Gi-Oh, though she would admit that it was something she was still slowly growing into. If anyone was the one that was into guys, it was her blonde older sister, not her! "Look, I just don't want to stay here all day if we don't have to."

"But we have to. Garterbelt has been making food in the kitchen ever since yesterday, hence why Sal and Brief had to leave since Garterbelt prowls on him and he dislikes Sal for some reason." Now, it was no secret between the sisters that Garterbelt had an odd interest in Brief since the day he caught word of him, but how he disliked Sal was something that could only be described as foreign to them. Just the way that he glared at her to the point of ripping the poor girl's heart right out of her chest was a concept that didn't suit the man. Oh yes, he had a thing for guys, hence the reason why Stocking found chat sites for Gay men, not to say she had an issue with them, but even she didn't like how just about all of the good stock of guys that came her way were Gay and only talked to her for _fashion tips_.

"Oh come on. When does that man ever do anything good for us!"

"You mean _other_ than the fact that he feeds us, gives us decent beds to sleep on, and doesn't report us for half of the things we do to Daten City?"

"Okay," Panty rolled her eyes, "When does he do anything for us that doesn't relate to our duties as Angels?" She did have a point, as much as Stocking didn't wish to admit it, it was there. If there was no Ghost for them to kill or an issue with money, Garterbelt left the duo alone, and would simply ignore them for his duties as a church. It was surprising to hear him preach to the humans, as he did it quite well, though it was also one of those facts that made her wonder as to why people came to listen to him in the first place. The church was slowly walking on its last limb, the faith of religion was nonexistent in Daten City, and it also didn't help that people would ignore the church due to Chuck's nasty self doing things in the front yard.

Yes, even Chuck caused problems for the duo. Who knew?

"You know, lets get out of here and go to the mall." Panty smiled and quickly got up with the keys to See Through already in hand. Getting into their trusty vehicle was no problem, though she still felt bad about abandoning Garterbelt when he was making so much food for no reason. If he wanted them to eat he'd simply call them, was the response that came to mind, and it was enough to put her thoughts at rest. It was due to Panty's oh so lovely driving skills that they made it to the mall in record time, the last thing she recalled seeing was a disgusting punk rocker being hit by a garbage can, which allowed the poor nerd he was bullying to run off with a grin on his face. _'One must love how the humans of Daten City enjoy seeing others suffer.'_ The faint vibration of her cell phone pulled Stocking away from her thought and answered it without checking the caller ID. "Yes?"

**"Hello dear. I believe we certainly have to-"** Clink! Stocking threw the phone right to the floorboard of See Through, uncaring if it broke or not from the impact. A whistle from her sister caused her to change the target of her glare from the phone to Panty.

"Sheesh, was that the punk boy we both had horrible sex with? Oh, I bet it was the same company that had you do the doughnut commercial and wanted you to do another with some type of nasty, drooling animal!" God, couldn't her sister shut up and stay out of her business? It was hard enough having privacy in the church with Garterbelt wanting to know where she goes to after she isolated herself from the church and purifying Ghosts, and she didn't dare include the way Panty has been acting to her for the past month. Stocking placed her right arm on the arm rest and reclined her head a bit, preferring to look at the many different type of humans walking in and out of the mall.

"Neither of them. It was mom."

"...Oh." Oh? Just oh? That was new, since Panty was what many humans called a Momma's Girl in many aspects. Not to mention that Panty loved to run her mouth to new speeds when it came to just about any topic, especially those that included her to any degree. "What did she want?"

"It doesn't matter Panty. Lets go into the mall and shop, okay?" Oddly enough, the doors suddenly locked themselves, and the sunroof popped back into place, preventing any hope of escaping the vehicle. The source of this random event? Well, was it really that hard to figure out?

"No way sista! Shopping while pissed is never good for the wallet, so we're either going to sit here and talk things out, or we're heading over to the Spicy Lacey Porn Shop and we're going to enjoy four straight hours of bukkake shots and rimjobs. Take your pick Stocking."

"But...Cum is so bitter and yucky." Panty smirked and altered the position of her seat, putting it back so she could place her arms behind her head. That look was Panty's "Cat and Mouse" game face, one she would wear when she wanted to either get straight to the point or felt like being a cocky bitch to people. In this circumstance, it was both.

"Then I guess we're sitting here and talking Stocking. I can wait for hours, God knows how often I had to wait for my climaxes to hit while my partner cums like four, hell even seven times before I can even get it out once!"

"Doesn't help that you've fucked so many guys that you built your stamina up like a porn star." Stocking mumbled, causing her blonde sister to chuckle. It was the truth, since only Panty kept a checklist of how many human males she fucked during their rather short time on Earth, and her sex list didn't include the Angels in Heaven she got to taste before they were sentenced to Daten City. After a few minutes of annoying silence, she looked at her sister from the corner of her eyes and sighed. "So you're really going to make us sit here until I talk?"

"Yup."

"You do realize that this isn't any better than when we were waiting on Garterbelt for the food right?"

"Sure do."

"God, you can be such a pain in my ass. You know that!"

"Sure do." Stocking shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. Why, of why did Panty have to be her sister?

"I don't know why she called okay?" She began, knowing that Panty wouldn't be happy with just that bit of information. So she went on. "Ever since I beat this nerd in a quick duel for all of the cards he had on him, mom has been calling me to get me to quit the game. She blames me for Louis turning into a Ghost and coming after us during my duel that Kona set up. which is another reason as to why she keeps calling. Its hard trying to block a number that doesn't exist, you know?" Silence suddenly came between the two, forcing her to look out the window once more in hopes of finding something, or someone, that would make Panty run out of See Through and allow her to make a quick get-a-way. The guy that was walking past them was too bald, and the one walking towards the mall didn't have a nice enough butt to fit her sister's odd standards. Why did her slut of a sister have to have such random standards when it came to guys?

"Psh, so you made a Ghost. No big deal." No big deal? No big deal! It is a SIN to create a Ghost! Creating a Ghost without justified cause is immediate grounds for "The Stripping", a punishment that those who do get this punishment truly do deserve it. Except for one person, but that was a dark thought for another time. "Who the hell made Cowper, or triggered Crazy Cabbie to go off his rocker?" Stocking turned her head and looked straight into Panty's eyes, hoping to see any indication of a lie.

There was none.

"You...You made Ghosts?" No, she couldn't lose her sister too. Sure, she was a bitch upon many levels, and a greedy whore to boot, but she was still the only bit of family she truly loved. She couldn't be taken away from her either!

"Well, not directly made," Panty added, "but enough to be linked to them. Crazy Cabbie, for example, was a guy I fucked in his "race car" right before he was to do his normal runs in his taxi. Had a thick cock, let me tell ya, and was aggressive enough to be mistaken for a bear, but God did he cum faster than a leopard. I told him that going fast was only worthwhile on the race track, not during sex, before leaving his ass in his taxi, and couldn't find myself caring when I heard about his death about a week later.

"And Cowper, well, can you _really_ not think of me and cum girl? I've fucked over hundreds of guys since we came here, and many of them weren't allowed to cum unless I did, which is reason for me to consider that I was the one to cause Cowper to rise. Not to mention all the time I spat out cum because it was too bitter, too sweet, or just too much of it. Either way, it doesn't fucking matter if you did something that, later on, caused someone to become a Ghost, because it takes DEATH to kill the person first, and their overall negative feelings to transform them into that which we fucking kill to purify their souls. Twisted system as fuck, but that is our way as Angels. So stop your worrying."

"It isn't me you should be saying that too...But thanks." Stocking replied with a small smile on her face. It wasn't everyday she got to hear Panty being, well, a sister that actually cared, and it really was the pick-me-up she needed to get past the constant calls from their mom. An odd look from her sister was what brought the Goth from her mind and back to the topic at hand. "What?"

"So, this thing you're into, Yami-Ohs right?"

"They're Yugi-licious." Stocking giggled at her reply, especially at the odd look she got from Panty. She had to remember that Panty didn't really care for Youtube that much, so she most likely hasn't heard of the term Abridging at all. "No, its called Yu-Gi-Oh, and what about it?"

"Shit name aside, is this a temporary thing?"

"You mean like your fad diets?"

"Har har Stocking. At least I wasn't the one who ate the infected breast milk from a Ghost." One harsh glare later, and Panty got back to the topic after she had her own fit of laughter to get over. "Look, I'm just curious is all. You don't normally show such dedication to something as nerdy as this, so I'm wondering if you're doing this all for that Sal girl, or if this is a new hobby for you. Christmas is slowly coming around the corner and all."

"Panty...Christmas isn't for yet another six months."

"Even better to know now before the holiday rush busts a nut over my patience." Lame sex pun aside, Panty smiled and leaned over to her. "So, are you going to actually admit that-"

"Yes, I do enjoy Yu-Gi-Oh and I'm going to keep on playing it until I lose the fun for it. Is that what you wanted to hear Panty?"

"Why yes," Panty stated, "Yes it is." With that said, Panty turned See Through into reverse and hurried out of the parking lot, causing the Goth to hit her head on the dashboard and enter the land of painful unconsciousness for quite a bit of time. She had a slight feeling in her gut that she shouldn't of taken off her seatbelt while she was playing the waiting game with Panty, and she ignored that helpful feeling, which was why she had no one but herself to blame when her sister slapped her awake, causing her to punch her blonde sister right to the left cheek.

"That is for slapping me like a rag doll."

"Ow, fucking cunt with her gorilla strength to match her camel humps of breasts." Panty whispered, though not low enough where she couldn't hear it. She noticed that they were parked next to a strip mall, and one look outside of the window told her all she needed to know. Oh why here of all places did Panty bring her to? "I noticed this place a few times during my run into Lower Daten, so I figured you'd get a kick coming here to buy some stuff. That, and I heard that this place has some stuff from Heaven! Can you believe that? An actual shop that has things from home Stocking! I'm damn as all hell sure it won't be clothes or cds, but even I wouldn't mind eating some candy or tasting some of Miachel's Nova Chips. Come on, lets go in."

_'Well, I have no choice but to follow at this point.'_ Their destination hadn't changed at all, at least from the outside. The inside was partially filled with several nerds of both genders and many different ages, from kids to grown men sitting at the tables with the official standard duel disk box in front of them. Was today their official release date? If so, then what would be even more important for Kona to make her, Brief, and Sal need to wait to get picked up tomorrow at the church? It was easy to tell that most of the guys at the shop were staring at the two Angels, either drooling at the sight or questioning their place with their minds already rowing towards hate, but what Stocking was happy to see was Brief at the counter without anyone standing in front of him.

"Oi, Geek Boy! I didn't know you had a job! Why didn't you tell us sooner? We could of came and helped out a bit when we needed to hide from Garterbelt." Despite the sudden wall of glares her sister received, Stocking pondered the thought of using the Card Buffet as a place to escape Garterbelt's wraith, and considered it for the future. Pushing that thought off to the side, she walked up to the counter and looked at the many different packs that were on the shelf behind him.

"That is because I figured you wouldn't want your name tarnished by this place Panty."

"Wow, I guess you hanging out with Stocking more is doing more good than I thought possible. You're slowly starting to get me pegged for every bit of detail aren't you?" Brief quickly shook his head and glanced at her with a light blush forming under the plume of hair that covered most of his face. Oh why couldn't he come it back, or at least straighten it so his eyes could be seen to the world?

"So anything I can help you with Stocking?"

"Sure, you can explain to me as to why there are duel disks on sale when Kona said that they were going on sale tomorrow?"

"I got them in early, so I called in everyone who preordered their duel disk, though I had to ask Kona if that was okay, who said it was as long as I record the event. So I'm only waiting on one person to-" A loud "BANG" from the door caused her, as well as everyone inside the Card Buffet, to look at the door and watched the new person hurry into the room with sweat running down their face. It took a moment for Stocking to realize that the person with a rather frightening expression was Sal, who hurried to the counter and grinned at Brief.

"Brief my man! Hit me up with my duel disk please!" One second passed before her face changed to that of pain, which caused her to run to the bathroom, which was to the left of the counter behind some shelves that only some of the true visitors of the shop knew about. A single snicker from Panty was what caused a chain reaction of laughter from the other duelists that were waiting to open their duel disks. Luckily, or sadly in the eyes of others, Stocking didn't find the situation too funny and pointed to the Synchro, Xyz, and Fiend binder that were on the shelf behind Brief. This was one of the few rituals that the two shared between them. She would point, and he would quickly hand it to her to look at, though if she pointed at packs she would quickly flash a number of fingers and he would pull for her the number of packs requested. Multiple flashes of the same fingers meant double or triple the amount of fingers presented, an odd system to use, she would admit, but it was something special between them.

"Wow," Stocking looked at Panty, who whistled at them, "I see you already have him trained Stocking. You planning on marking him as yours before Sal or anyone else can claim him?" That was something that she couldn't prevent herself from blushing, which only triggered more teasing from her sister. It was only a moment later when Sal came out of the bathroom with a calm look on her face, as well as her clothes were much nicer than before, most likely from shaking the sweat out of them.

"Sorry about that everyone. Now can I please get my duel disk so we can all crack these bad boys open!" Everyone excluding Brief, Panty, and herself cheered as loud as they could, some of them even stomping their feet on the ground in excitement. She could kinda understand though, as this was one product of Yu-Gi-Oh that would most likely never lose popularity for decades to come, though if they ever created something like the duel disk in Zexal she'd kill Kona if he was still alive by that point.

"Aaannnnddddd, great! I got the cameras linked to the recorder program. So, everyone, lets start opening these duel disks and get them well under-"

"FUCK YEA!" Was the general response that made it hard for Stocking to hear what else Brief was saying. She had to admit, as she watched everyone opening their duel disk boxes and bring out the device in question, she couldn't control her hunger for dueling, and was happy to have her deckbox on her belt, yet realized she left her own duel disk at the church. The duel disks in question were different from the custom duel disks that she had, and Brief's was one of a kind as well, unlike the classic silver that was seen in the anime. She did recognize a few from the Yu-Gi-Oh Gx era, and even a few that were based on the Seal of Orichalcos, which reminded her of a scorpion's stinger preparing to poison you to death. The only other abnormalities were that some of the classic duel disks were colored differently, from pure black to red and gold, and there was even a pink one for a little girl, yet the thought of why would they make a duel disk for a nine year old girl was beyond her understanding.

"So, Stocking, wanna duel?" She looked over to Sal, who already attached her bright white and gold duel disk to her arm, and shook her head.

"I didn't bring my duel disk with me, so we'd have to do it old school style." Sal nodded, though the sad look at being rejected was easy to spot on her face. Brief walked over to Stocking with a duel disk, the basic model, and handed it to her.

"I was told to have a model out as display, so I figured what is the best way to display it than by dueling." An odd, playful thought came to mind, and she knew that it would get accepted by her two friends faster than she could eat a cake. Which, by the way, she held the record for eating a cake in under a minute, so it was _quite_ fast.

"Why don't we have a three way duel? It'll be something new that we haven't tried before." Sal looked at her with true joy, though Brief was the one to blush at her. Wait, why was he blushing at the thought of a three way duel? It was after the fact Panty said something that she realized what caused the blushing.

"Aww, Stocking, I didn't know you were bisexual, or were horny enough to try a three way with Geek Boy."

"Shut up Panty!" Sadly, the damage was already done, and everyone in the room was now focused on the four. It was then that she decided to go to the other room, seeing how this one was currently filed with duelists waiting to use their new toy, and started up her duel disk. She noticed that the hologram projectors weren't firing as they should, and looked over to Brief when he and Sal entered. "Why aren't the projectors launching?"

"Ah," Brief pointed to several corners of the room, "The guys who came to drop off the duel disks also laid out some miniature projectors all over the place, which makes it link to the projectors in the duel disk so it doesn't have to launch. A great idea if you want to avoid property damage if you think about it." Each of them took some time to shuffle their decks, though Brief's style of shuffling was calm and collective, which counter's Sal's style of quick and choppy. One coin toss later, and Brief was the one to start things off, followed by Sal, and herself being the last person to draw. She could only hope that neither of them would have to deal with Brief's first turn synchro summon, as that was hard to get over.

"Well Briefy boy, we're waiting on you!" Sal exclaimed as she drew her cards. The hand the Gothic Angel drew could have been better, but at least she had two monsters in hand that had 1900 attack points that, in theory, could crush any of the most average monsters. Brief gave no indicator if his hand was good or bad, which was a different sort of bad than him having something from the start.

"And I'll start things off with a draw, and follow up by normal summoning my **Goblin Attack Force** (2300/0)!" The monster in question materialized in front of them, revealing about four green goblins wearing metal helmets and held steel clubs in their hands. The fact that it had 2300 attack points worried her, but she knew about its other effect of being forced into defense position after it attacks each turn, which made it easy to run over since it had 0 defense. "I'll set one card before ending my turn. Your move Sal."

"Thanks for doing things quick and easy Brief. My move!" Sal had a shit eating grin on her face, which could only mean a key play was about to be made. Oh why couldn't she of been able to go second? "I normal summon **Rescue Rabbit** (300/100)," a very, VERY cute rabbit that wore a hard hat, goggles, and had a walkie talkie strapped around its collared neck materialized before them, "and I activate its effect. By banishing it, I can special summon two normal monsters with the same name from my deck to the field, and I chose my **Spirit of the Harp** (800/2000)! Come on out girls." Two nuns dressed in yellow robes appeared in front of Sal with a pair of matching harps that released an enchanting tune from the instrument with a flick of their fingers. "I'll overlay the two in order to Xyz summon **Number 39: Utopia** (2500/2000)!"

_'Shit.'_ Was all Stocking could think as she watched the Number monster in question appear in the place of the nuns. Everyone knew of his ability to negate at least two attacks before he was destroyed by being targeted, but those two negates could change a duel in seconds. She noticed that Brief was frowning at his set card. Could it possibly be something that would of destroyed the monster, such as **Sakuretsu Armor** or **Bottomless Trap Hole**?

"I'll end my turn by setting a face down. Show us what you got Stocking!" One silent draw later, and Stocking wondered if she was on the track of losing today. It wasn't as if she didn't have something to take away some monsters, but it was the fact that she would be left open for the other that she didn't like.

"I activate the spell card **Fissure**, which destroys one monster on an opponent's side of the field with the lowest attack, and since this isn't a tag duel, where everything is shared, you two are treated as a separate opponent. So, say goodbye to your **Goblin Attack Force** Geek Boy." The look of surprise on his face made her feel slightly better about him not preventing Sal's Utopia from hitting the field, but it still wasn't enough of a meal to make him feel the cost of his actions. "I normal summon my **Slate Warrior** (1900/400) and-"

"And I activate my **Bottomless Trap Hole**-"

"Brief you little shit!" Stocking shouted, knowing full well that Brief truly deserved to lose today, and she would be the one to make him fall. After she removed her Slate Warrior, she set a card face down, hoping it would be enough to make the others not attack her. "I end my turn."

"Sorry Stocking-chan." The glare he received made him flinch. "I draw, and I set one monster and one card and end my turn." It was then that she looked at Sal, who was reviewing her hand before she made a move to draw her card, and smiled a bit. She really did deserve a chance to play, so she could understand a bit as to why Brief held back.

Didn't mean she had to use that damn trap card on HER though.

"I draw, set one back row, and normal summon my **Shining Angel** (1400/800)." One white robed angel with yellow wings to match his short blond hair later, and she looked over to Brief. "I send my Utopia to attack your face down while sending my **Shining Angel** to Stocking for direct damage. Bathe them in your holy light!"

_'Well, at least she isn't afraid to create her own attack names.'_ Stocking thought as she watched her life points drop to 6600. Brief's face down card was a Shield Warrior, a useful monster as it made one monster indestructible by removing itself from the graveyard. With not much else she could do, Sal ended her turn, allowing her to take the turn. The card she drew would be useful to get rid of Sal's Utopia. "I set one card and normal summon **Power Invader** (2200/0), since you, Sal, have two monsters on the field, it can be summoned without tribute."

"Aww, well let me show you my thanks by activating my **Trap Hole**!"

"And I'll show my warm welcome by activating MY **Seven Tools of the Bandit**." Brief interrupted, causing the trap card that materialized on Sal's side to be destroyed. Seeing his life points drop to 7000 at his own choice to allow her muscular purple alien to stay on the field was a nice gesture. Still, it didn't prevent him from the pain he was going to receive during this duel.

"If you two are done, I'm going to attack your **Shining Angel** with my monster Sal. That is, unless you have something to negate the attack." The look on Sal's face was one of a tough call, though she knew what her friend would do, and was glad to see it happen.

"Nope, I WANT you to attack my angel, as its death allows me to bring another creature of the light to my side of the field!" She brought out **The Forgiving Maiden** (850/2000), another nun who was praying to someone, and noticed that Sal's life points were at 7200. At least everyone's life points were close to one another where no one would make a silly move in hopes of turning things around.

"Your turn Brief."

"Thank you Stocking. I draw and normal summon my **Comrade Swordsman of Landstar** (500/1200)." The monster that appeared on his side of the field was a monster whose head was the shape of **Marshmallon**, but was dressed as a young adventurer and had two antennae. "Due to his effect, all Warrior type monsters I control gain 400 attack points, which means its strong enough to destroy your maiden (900/1200)! Now attack with your loyal slash!" Sal flipped her last set card, Threatening Roar, which prevented him from declaring any attacks this turn. With that move played, he set another card down and ended his turn, allowing sal to start hers.

"Yes! I set a card, set a monster, turn **The Forgiving Maiden** to defense position, and attack with Utopia!" Stocking flipped her second face down, and watched as Sal's face turned to a twisted form of annoyance. There, on her side of the field, was **Compulsory Evacuation Device**, a very painful card that ruined plays since the day it came out in the TCG, and Sal was feeling its effects at the moment.

"Also, since you just set a monster, you can't flip it to Xyz summon. Just figured I'd let you know that instruction to that particular recipe." With that move played, Sal ended her turn after forcing the materials of Utopia to the grave, as well as her Xyz monster back to the extra deck. "My turn,and I normal summon my second **Power Invader**, which allows me to overlay the two so I can Xyz summon my **Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon** (2600/1700)!" Her agent of destruction and chaos appeared, gracing the field with his dark presence and flapped his blackened wings at the other monsters. They shivered at the sight of him, causing her to approve of the hologram's life-like reactions to other, stronger monsters. "Once per turn, I can detach a material from Adreus to destroy one face up card on the field, such as your maiden Sal." Oddly enough, Sal didn't react as much as she thought her friend would at the sight of Adreus throwing his blood red dagger at the maiden, killing it in one blow. It must mean she has a trap card waiting for her, but so does Brief. Decisions decisions... "I'll end my turn."

"Just like that?" Brief asked. With only a nod as her reply, he accepted it and drew his card, signaling the start of his turn. "I normal summon my **Marauding Captain** (1200/400), which allows me to special summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand when he is normal summoned. The monster I pick is **Flare Resonator** (300/1300), but they won't be staying long! I overlay my captain and my resonator to Xyz summon **Number 17: Leviathan Dragon**! (2000/0)" As quickly as they appeared, the knight and little fiend disappeared, and were replaced by a mighty blue dragon with six wings. He detached one of its materials, making it release a roar that made her Adreus flap his wings at the dragon. Kona's technical team really outdone themselves with their reactions to one another. "By removing a material, my Leviathan Dragon increases his attack by 500, making his attack currently 2500. Sorry Sal, but I have to attack you."

"Its not a problem Brief, as I activate my **Draining Sheild**, which negates your attack and gives me 2500 life points!" In one simple move, Sal went from 7200 life points to 9700. Why didn't anyone draw a **Mystical Space Typhoon** yet? It would of really been helpful against Sal and her stalling style. "I take it you're done? Okay! I draw, and I tribute my face down monster in order to summon **Tethys, Goddess of Light**! (2400/1800)" It was strange as to how Konami drew angels with armor, since only archangels or those in the military wore armor, since everyone else simply needed clothes as their weapons. Sure, you had their cousin race the Valkyries that wore armor all the time, but they only came to Earth for dire needs. "I then activate **Full-Force Strike**!"

"That doesn't sound too good." Stocking mumbled as she watched Sal's angel develop a yellow glow around her fists. Sal, who must have heard her, grinned as a response.

"This spell card allows me to target one of my monsters and does several things. For this turn only, it can't be destroyed by battle, players take no battle damage, and at the end of the turn the monster Tethys attacks is destroyed! So say goodbye to your fallen angel Stocking!"

"Not so fast! I activate my **Kunai with Chain**!" Brief declared, triggering for his dragon to suddenly release a chain from its mouth that wrapped around the angel's throat, forcing it into defense mode. "Not only is an attacking monster forced to defense position, but one of my monsters is given 500 by this equip card!"

"Damn you Brief! I nearly destroyed a threat!" A threat? Was she really a threat to Sal? Oh, who was she kidding? Of course she was a big threat, just as much as Brief was when it came to dueling. "Well shit, I end my turn." It was then that Stocking realized that their duel brought in a big crowd, most likely the duelists from the other room, and smiled at them, earning some cheers before she declared her turn.

"I draw, and I normal summon my **Archfiend Soldier** (1900/1500), and activate Adreus's effect to destroy your Leviathan Dragon. No offense Brief."

"No taken." He quickly replied as his dragon's head was nearly decapitated by her monster's blade. As soon as the dragon was sent to the grave, she began her attack.

"I send my Adreus to destroy your precious angel Sal, which will leave yourself wide open for a direct attack from my **Archfiend Soldier**!" The angel's scream that came as she was stabbed by her monster was slightly chilling, but a nice effect as it disappeared in a blaze of pixels. That placed her at 9500, but with her Archfield coming in for direct damage decreased her points even further, placing her at 7600. "I end my turn."

"Finally, I thought you were going to take forever." Brief joked before drawing his card. "I set one card and place my **Comrade Swordsman of Landstar** in defense mode before ending my turn. Your move Sal." Sal didn't reply, other than by drawing her card. Then, as if a miracle came, her expression changed.

"Alright!" She shouted quite loudly for no reason. She must of drew something good. "I activate my **Monster Reincarnation**, which allows me to discard a card from my hand to the grave to add a monster from the graveyard to my hand. And I chose, and summon face down before ending my turn."

_'All that excitement for one monster? Sheesh, what a let down.'_ Stocking thought before she drew her card. It wasn't exactly what she wanted, but it would work in a pinch. "I set one card down and normal summon my **Dark Tinker** (1000/1300) and activate my **Resonance Device**, which makes two monsters I control of the same type and attribute match the other in terms of level, which means my **Dark Tinker** is now a four star monster!" As if to show proof of her move, two stars appeared above her **Dark Tinker**, which suddenly separated like a pair of cells to produce two more. "I then overlay the two in order to bring out my copy of **Number 39: Utopia** (2500/2000), and use Adreus to attack your little warrior Brief." the sudden change of vocal movement, a tactic that most warriors of Heaven learned as a distraction tactic, made Brief shocked and unable to respond to her sudden declaration to prevent her monster from destroying his little warrior. At least, she thought it did, until it was covered in this odd crystal armor that punctured her monster.

"Nice try, but I had **Sakuretsu Armor** waiting for something like this to happen. Say goodbye to your Adreus!" It was never fun or a good time to see one of your favorite monsters getting destroyed, but she didn't mind it as badly as she thought she would. Maybe it was due to her backup plan?

"I end my turn."

"And I'll start mine!" Brief spoke out as he drew his card, his popularity with the crowd causing them to cheer for him and for him to win the duel. That wouldn't happen if she had anything to say about it. "Sadly, I got nothing good, so I end."

"I draw and end my turn." Wow, a dry spell suddenly hit everyone's decks. Well, everyone except for her, which only meant good things were coming her way.

"I draw, and normal summon my **Tour Guide From The Underworld** (1000/600)." A small, petite teenage girl appeared next to her Utopia. She wore a dark blue uniform with a whistle around her neck, a purse with a skull emblem over her left shoulder, and was utterly adorable. She got cat calls and cheers just for summoning the three star monster. "With her effect, I can special summon a level 3 Fiend type monster from my hand or deck, and I chose my second **Tour Guide From The Underworld**!" If the cat calls were loud before, they became roars of love as soon as her second copy appeared right next to the first one. They pressed up to one another, waving to the viewers of their match and even held hands, an odd function for a hologram, but to each their own. "But I won't keep them here for long, as I overlay them to Xyz summon my **Grenosaurus**! (2000/1900)" In the duo's place was a large, red dinosaur that expelled fire from the back of its head, making the metal attachments it had look more dangerous than they should of. Despite the lack of intense cheer for bringing out her monster, she still pressed on. "I send **Grenosaurus** to attack your face down card Sal!"

"So what? You only attacked my **Shining Angel** (1400/800), which allows me to send a replacement in its place." Stocking couldn't stop herself from smirking and pulled a card from her **Grenosaurus**, which she used to point at Sal.

"By detaching a material from him, if he destroyed a monster by battle, he deals an additional 1000 points of damage to the opponent." The additional points of damage was dealt by it swinging its tail at Sal, which would of hurt if the monster wasn't a hologram. Still, the loss of points placed Sal at 6600, and she still had pain to dish out. "I'll attack with my Utopia, which will deal more damage than my **Grenosaurus** did just moments ago, before ending my turn." The cycle of the Shining Angel continued, bringing out a replacement monster in the form of another **Shining Angel**, though this time her friend took 1100 points of damage, putting her at 5500.

"Thanks for ignoring me by the way. I'm so hurt, NOT!" Brief exclaimed as he drew his new card. Whatever it was, she didn't like the smile it gave him. "I normal summon my **Wind-Up Soldier** (1800/1200) and activate this toy's effect! During my main phase, I can increase his attack by 400 and his level by 1, making him level 5, and allowing me to tune him with my little warrior to synchro summon my **Stardust Dragon**! (2500/2000)" Despite the sudden presence of the white and sea green colored futuristic dragon that appeared on his side of the field, she activated her trap card and watched as the magic happened.

"I activate my **Call of the Haunted**, which allows me to revive my **Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon** 2600/1700) right back to the field!" The best part about her move? Since her trap wasn't a card destroying effect, he couldn't activate his Stardust's effect to negate it!

"Well I'll still attack with my Stardust then!"

"Which I will negate with my Utopia's effect." One detaching later, and she still had a field full of powerful monsters. Once he ended his turn, Sal drew her card, though one had to wonder if she would draw something good or not.

"I put my **Shining Angel** in Defense mode and place a card down before ending my turn." Stocking had to be cautious of Sal and her backrow, as she knew that Sal always had some kind of response trap just waiting to be sprung on someone. Still, she could do little other than to draw her new card and see where it took her.

"My draw, and I'll destroy your **Stardust Dragon** with my Adreus," Subtract 100 from his life points to place him at 6900, "and I'll attack-"

"Not so fast! By removing **Shield Warrior** from my graveyard, I can prevent one monster I control from being destroyed by battle." His dragon roared in joy or amusement at Adreus' attempt at destroying the synchro monster, which made her mood slightly ruined at the lack of a big drop in life points.

"I'll just have to keep things going by attacking you Sal with my **Grenosaurus**!" It was a risk she had to take, sad to say.

"Sorry, not gonna happen! I activate my **Magic Cylinder**, which negates your attack and dishes out the damage right back at you!" Well, now she had 4600, which placed her at the lowest pole, followed by Sal and Brief having the most. It sucked being so close to losing, but she had to press on.

"I'll just destroy your monster with my Utopia, which means you can't bring out any other monsters since that is your third **Shining Angel**." With that said, she ended her turn, allowing Brief to go next. She only hoped that he didn't have a **Monster Reborn** waiting for her, or else she was screwed.

"I set one card and attack your **Grenosaurus**!" Wait, why not go for the player who didn't HAVE anything to defend her life points? That was sheer idiocy at its highest! Either way, despite his stupidity, she negated the attack with Utopia's effect, watching as he quickly ended his turn. Sal drew, and she didn't like the smile the girl suddenly developed at all.

"I activate **Lightning Vortex**, which destroys all of your face up monsters Stocking in exchange for me discarding a card from my hand. So say goodbye to your Xyz monsters!" No, this was NOT happening! She was so close. So fucking close to winning! Her only saving grace was that Sal had nothing to attack with. "I end my turn."

"I draw." _'Please, please let this card be good!'_ Sadly, all she got was a **Mischief of the Yokai**, her second copy, which she placed right next to her first one in hopes of bluffing the others from attacking her. Brief drew his card, and he smiled at it.

"I play **Reinforcement of the Army**!" One Warrior monster later, and Brief summoned his second copy of **Goblin Attack Force** (2300/0), and had it attack her, placing her life points at 2300, as he sent his **Stardust Dragon** at Sal, depleting her points to 3000. Once he ended, Sal drew, placed a card in the spell and trap zone, and ended her turn. Now it was Stocking's turn, which could just very well be her last unless she drew something, anything to block his monsters. Did she have a **Mirror Force** in her deck? She couldn't recall if she did or didn't at this point. With a sigh, she drew her card, and smiled at it. Not a winning smile, or a fake smile, but a small, simple content smile.

_'Well, at least I get to lose with you by my side. Isn't that right **Darkness Neosphere**?'_ Her favorite card blinked at her, as if she was nodding in acceptance of their lost, and waited. "I end my turn."

"I...draw." Brief said slowly, as if measuring her before he actually drew his card. "I activate **Warrior Returning Alive**, and I'll use it to add and summon my other **Goblin Attack Force** (2300/0) to the field. Sorry Sal, but this is game for you." His goblins and **Stardust Dragon** attacked her friend, placing her life points at 0, as well as turned his new goblin to defense position. "Main phase 2, when I have two monsters in defense position, I can special summon my **Backup Warrior** (2100/0) from my hand to the field, and I activate my **Galaxy Queen's Light**, which changes all of my other monsters on the field to become the same level as the monster with seven or more stars, and I chose my **Stardust Dragon**!" Suddenly, stars appeared over his two goblins and his newest warrior, making them level 8. "I then overlay my two **Goblin Attack Force** monsters, as well as my **Stardust Dragon** to my **Backup Warrior** in order to Xyz summon my two **Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord Of Heliopolis** (3000/2400)!"

_'He has not one...but TWO of those things in his extra deck!'_ Stocking thought in shock as his two crimson red dragons roared much, MUCH louder than his **Stardust Dragon** did, nearly making her fall in the process. There was no way she could come up against that, unless she had two additional Fiend type monsters in her hand, but since Pot of Greed was still banned, she couldn't rely on that at all.

"I end my turn." With that said, Stocking drew her card, and placed it back on the top of her deck. There was nothing she could do to win this match, so she could only give credit where it was due, like a true sport would.

"I concede Brief. Good game." Brief walked over to her as their holograms turned off and shook her hand. His hand was quite smooth, just like the fluff to a cupcake, and it made her want to take a quick lick of it out of habit. Then, out of no where, the cheering began, not just for Brief, but for her and Sal as well, causing her to feel better about her loss and began to wave at everyone who was in the room. Only, there was one person who was missing out of the crowd.

Panty.

_'I...guess she didn't want to see me duel after all.'_ It wasn't as if she asked for her sister to stay around though, so she couldn't just blame her for not watching. As she and the others walked out of the other room, the first thing she noticed was her sister standing next to the counter with an older man behind it. Was that the hidden uncle that Brief first spoke about when she first went into the Card Buffet? What marked this event as abnormal was that in front of Panty were many different card packs, about four of each, and they ranged from all sorts of sets that she didn't even know about. When her sister noticed that they were coming towards her, she put on a mock glare and turned the other way.

"Sheesh, glad to see you're done with your match. I, uh, got you this stuff so you could make your deck better I guess. That IS what you do with the cards right? You use them to build more decks and kick ass with them until there is no more ass to kick right?" Stocking couldn't help but to laugh a little with a large, booming smile on her face that truly showed how happy she was with her sister.

"Yes, Panty, I use the cards to kick so much ass that the loser has to lay on his back for weeks before the burn goes away." At that, the two sisters shared a laugh

* * *

The card shop closed early that day, mostly so they could restock on duel disks in preparation for something that neither Brief or the old man at the counter would speak of. For the remaining two hours they were there before the shop closed, Stocking took the time to chat with her sister, leaving Sal to duel the other duelists at the shop and allowed Brief to reclaim the duel disk she used and began to take orders from the counter once again. She didn't want to open her packs at the shop, mostly since you could never trust other people when it was as busy as it was, but she did buy a few of the **Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo **tins so Sal could have her own copy of **Number 16: Shock Master** and use it as she needed to.

As soon as the shop closed, the sisters got in See Through, waiting on Sal and Brief to grab their things and come back with them to the church. The reason? The two were spending the night due to Kona's instructions for the three to be at the church on Wednesday so he could pick them up much easier than going to each place to do a pick up. It was only by luck that Sal brought her things to Brief's shop earlier that day, or else they would have had to drive out to get it, which was something that wouldn't be too good for Panty, since she would want to hit up the movie theater and watch something. As soon as the two came out, they made a bee line for the trunk, only for Panty to blow the horn much louder than necessary.

_'Actually, it isn't necessary at all.'_ Stocking considered.

"Hey, the trunk is full! Just hold on to your stuff in the back seat and you'll be fine fuckers!" Stocking glanced at her sister, who was starting to sweat a little more than she did when she got annoyed.

"Panty, you're not hiding something are you?" Panty shook her head and looked away. This only fueled Stocking's urge to look at the trunk even more. "You ARE hiding something in the back, aren't you!"

"I am not, fuck!" Panty began to drive, which caused Stocking to thank God that Sal and Brief got into the back seat in time with their stuff and the doors closed, or else they would have been left behind. Or, she added as an additional thought, hurt beyond belief. Sadly for Panty's sake, she had to turn around an old woman that was walking in the middle of the road, causing a loud "thunk" to be heard from See Through's trunk. At that, her sister's eyes decreased in side until they were the equivalent of a pea, and sighed. "I have a very kinky nerd in the trunk who likes to be tied up, okay?"

"...And you call me the disgusting one of the family."

"Fuck off." At that, the two shared yet another laugh, causing the warm sensation Stocking felt earlier return, yet, there was a small problem. If that was the case, with a guy being in the trunk, then why were Panty's eyes still small, and why did she lie, if there was no guy in the trunk? What exactly could be in the trunk?

_'It doesn't matter,'_ Stocking decided a second later, _'Whatever it is can only be Panty's problem or hidden desire. It isn't any of my business to snoop into it, or to care really.'_ She couldn't shake off the feeling she got, but ignored it as best as she could. She had her best friends in the back seat, her sister beside her, and had a great time today, despite how hungry she was. Nothing could top a day like today.

-Author Note-

Give Brief a round of applause everyone for his stunning victory! When Sal's deck first drew Lightning Vortex, she had to wait a while before she could use it, as every card she drew kept her alive better on the field than in her hand. Sadly, her last chance was by sending her **Alexandrite Dragon** to the grave, which meant that if she never put down her other face down card, which was a **Seven Tools of the Bandit**, she might have survived longer. The past is the past though, so I shall move on to my final point. Well, in truth, I don't have much to say at this point, other than I hope you all review, as well as enjoyed this chapter!


	10. Arc 2: The Wheels Are Turning

She didn't know what exactly was happening on this bustling day, but it wasn't truly hard to figure out that whatever it was, it was going to be fucking BIG! Since she knew that her sister and her friends were hitching a ride with some big shot nerd from an electronic company, she was allowed to have See Through for the day, and she took the advantage by driving around the city to see what was happening. Certain roads were being blocked off, oddly enough preventing her from reaching the more populated parts of the city, but she didn't need to go to the hot spots anyway. At least, not yet.

She had to scope the competition. How did she know that a competition was about to start, one may ask? The fact that a big wig, Kona or whatever his name was, picked up her sister for no known reasons was one clue. The second was that, the day before the pick up, some oversized mechanical projector wing comes out for the market so nerds all around can buy and play a card game was yet another clue. The final, and most important clue, was that Garterbelt, their caretaker while in Daten City, took the next several days off Angel duty, as well as closed the church down for "repairs", despite the fact that it was thanks to her ass that the church was in pristine condition!

Literally. Who knew so many members of the church enjoyed fucking blondes in their ass?

So now all she had to do was wait. It shouldn't take too much longer, considering she heard her one of her sister's friends in the bathroom getting ready right before she left, so she would simply kill time by reading the magazine she picked up from the store yesterday. She had a lot of catching up to do, and it would do her no good if she didn't tutor herself in the unknown before she took it upon herself to, well, hopefully do something she wouldn't regret.

* * *

"Brief, get your ass down here right now!" Stocking Anarchy, gothic Angel of Daten City, shouted for her friend/rival, Briefers Rock, to get outside of the church. Kona, a very important man who was in charge for an electronic company, was going to pick up she, her friend Sal, and the late boy for reasons unknown. Speaking of her other friend, she turned to the girl and smiled at Sal, who took the time to not only dress up in a decent pair of blue jeans and a tight-fitting yellow shirt, but had her duel disk in the silver case that came with each model. 'Just goes to show how much she loves that thing.'

"I'm right behind you guys!" Brief, a human boy who was just as tall as her, though with poofy orange hair and a smile that promised nothing but the truth, nearly tripped over Chuck, an ally of the church, but prevented himself from falling by stomping on Chuck's head. Despite how hilarious it was to see him worry about crushing the dog's brain to mush, she couldn't help but to stare at the green button up, followed by the brown cargo pants and the black leather belt that had a deck box built on the side that made up his outfit. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew that he preferred to keep his hair untamed, she would have forced him to wet his hair and comb it to the side, or at least keep it out of his eyes somehow. "I'm SO sorry Chuck! I didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry about it." Stocking interrupted, taking the brief time that he stopped paying attention to kick Chuck's body away from the redhead. The look on his face was well worth distracting him though. "He takes hits like that all the time. He'll be back up before you know it. Now where is our ride..." She, herself, was wearing a slight alteration to her normal attire. Rather than wear her usual gothic dress, she wore a pair of black biker shorts that were hidden by the short black skirt she had on, considering that today was going to be quite hot. Her black top, which was complemented by the blue ribbon she usually had on her, was sleeveless, a plus for her, as she decided to so something out of the norm and hooked her deck box on the collar of her shirt, which she knew would attract more attention to her breasts than she normally cared for. A large plume of wind prevented her from studying the rest of her outfit, though it also signaled to the arrival of Kona, who opened the door to the helicopter and waved at them to come closer.

"Mr. Kona," Sal began as they hurried onto the descending flying machine, "it is such an honor to meet you in person! Thank you so much for getting Konami to create the duel disks! They're so fun to use and to duel with! Well, I'm sure you knew that much earlier, considering you must of been the one to make this a reality! But, I think you-"

"SAL!" Stocking and Brief shouted at the same time, causing their friend to release a small "meep" and withdrew into her shirt. Kona, despite the sudden display of talking, simply clapped his hands and smiled at the girl.

"Why thank you for your kind words Sal. It truly means a lot to me and the company. Sour cream and onion chip anyone?" Stocking was the only one who politely declined, since she was more into a cheddar mood herself, and watched as her friends took a chip or two for themselves. She took it upon herself to look out the window, taking notice of the busy city and how calm everything was for once, though she had an odd feeling that whatever Kona needed them for was going to disrupt the peace quite easily. Still, she wondered as to where he was taking them, as she knew that his company building was on the other side of city, and the way the pilot was taking them seemed to be the middle of the city. "So have you picked up any new cards lately?"

"I finally got myself a **Tiras, Keeper of the Genesis** and a **Number 16: Shock Master**!" Sal shouted, taking the lead in the conversation. She then developed a light blush and looked away from the man. "I haven't been able to overcome the drought of level 4 monsters though, but I have brought out Tiras before, which is something I pride myself in!"

"Not to be outdone or anything, but I bought a random Generation Force special edition and pulled out an **Orient Dragon**. Not that I plan to use it in my deck or anything, but I find its overall value to be something that made up for the price of the box. Now if only I could pull a** Steelswarm Roach** before the reprint comes out. Damn reprints..." Stocking mumbled, knowing full well that Brief was giving her an evil eye at the mention of reprints. It wasn't that Brief hated reprints or anything. In truth, he loved them, as it presents newer players the option of performing the same deadly combos that the older, money earning players could. No, what he hated of reprints was the loss of value in the ultra, ultimate, and secret rare copies of the original, as most traders would only rate the original a few dollars more than the reprint, but never its original value.

"But reprints give a fair chance for everyone to have those special cards Stocking. Surely you can understand that." Kona stated with a smile. Considering she was on his helicopter, she simply agreed and listened to Brief explain that, while he hadn't picked up anything as cool as the girls, he did make his deck even more quick and easy to use, causing Kona to examine his deck and made a few comments on possibly making a decklist at one point to possibly make a starter deck based on it. Of course, if such a thing did happen, Brief would get a royalty, but that didn't matter to Stocking. No, what did matter was the slowly, but definitely increasing sound of cheering and screams that made her look out the window once again, and what she saw this time surprised her.

* * *

The mission was clear. The target was coming out of the Konami helicopter, and the three other individuals that were beside the target were to be expected. The tools that were on his person were nearly the exact same as everyone else around the area, though he himself was tucked away beside a building, scanning the area in relative peace.

_'Hopefully I can defeat the target and take him away before he rises in rank.'_ He thought to himself, never taking his eyes off the stage where Kona Tachikagu, an individual who he had no information about, walked up to the microphone and pointed up at the sky.

"Citizens of Daten City! Today is an important day for all who live here! Starting today, this city is under lockdown for the next three days! No one can leave the city, but others may enter and do whatever they please that is respected by the law. Why is the city under lockdown, you may ask? I shall tell you why! Duelists of Yu-Gi-Oh, I welcome you to Daten City's first Battle City Tournament!" He didn't expect so many people from all over the area to scream in joy and happiness at such news. Wouldn't they prefer to be able to leave this sinful place? What if an emergency situation came up that dealt with one of their loved ones?

_'And to think,'_ He thought, _'I was once like these scum.'_

"Those of you who wish to participate in the tournament must have a legal, TCG forty card deck, and a Tachikagu duel disk, which shall be linked up to the Tachikagu mainframe to track everyone's life points, win/loss ratio, and to record the matches for any duelist to review over their own game, or anyone they wish to check up on!" Kona took a moment to allow the sudden new rave of cheering to take place, something that allowed him to take notice of his target's reaction. He was smiling, a sign that he didn't like to see, and nearly made his move to hurry through the crowd and claim the boy as his own, hence completing the mission. Sadly, not only was he outnumbered, but his target would be taken much faster than he could claim him, hence leading his task to failure. "Sadly, you MUST purchase a duel disk by tonight in order to take place in the tournament, as tomorrow any duel disk you buy won't have what you'll need to make it through the tournament!

"Rather than play for locator cards like Yugi, Joey, and Marik did in the anime, what you'll be playing for are C-Rings, the band that is located around the clamp of your duel disk, which will only come off once the timer for the tournament officially starts! In order to enter the next stage of the tournament, you must have eight C-Rings at the least! The more you have when you finally decide to go to the location that the C-Rings shall tell you, the more items you'll be able to obtain once you get to the hidden location. What these items are? Only way to find out is by participating in the tournament!

"However, don't hoard them too long, for each C-Ring, once they reveal the location by being combined into one, are on a time limit that will force them to turn off once the time limit is met. Do NOT let it reach the time limit, as not only will they shut off for good, but the more C-Rings you bring that are turned off, the less items you'll obtain once you get to the hidden location. With that said, let the first Battle City Tournament of Daten City BEGIN!" The large, somehow unnoticed clock that appeared on a more confusingly unnoticed flat screen on a building flashed to life, counting downwards til the end game, if you will. He decided that he would wait for his target to get away from Kona, hopefully being by himself so he can defeat him and take him away before anyone notices.

_'Still,'_ He thought as he looked at the device on his chest, "doesn't mean I can't loosen the competition a bit." He spoke out loud before he noticed that a small, preteen blue haired boy walked up to him with such bright, hazel eyes that it made him grin in joy.

"Hey mister, care to duel for your C-Ring?"

"Sure sure! Lets just move back into this alley a bit so we won't be bothered..."

* * *

"I can't believe this was the surprise you were hiding from us!" Stocking, much after Kona made his speech to the crowd that once surrounded the sturdy stage that she knew wasn't there yesterday, said to him as the small group walked towards the car that came for the man. While she knew that Sal was very excited for the city wide tournament, Brief quickly made a few calls so his uncle, as well as few back-up workers he knew, would man the store while he participated in the event. She, on the other hand, knew that the Ghost rate would populate the town double, no, TRIPLE than their usual rates due to the massive event that was taking place.

"Well how else would it be a surprise if I told you Stocking? That, and it wouldn't be fair for everyone if I told you and your friends earlier than we were going to. Fair is fair, after all."

"B-but!" Why didn't he understand that Daten City is a place that only homebrewed events that Daten City produces ever happen due to everyone else being frightened or harmed by the Ghosts? Did such an intelligent man not do the necessary research when considering the tournament? No, she was sure he did, but why allow the event to take place then? Rather than answer, Kona opened the door and stepped in, turning his head to the trio and smiled.

"Don't worry Stocking. I'm more than confidant that your deck as it is will earn you a spot at the next stage of the tournament. Hope to see you three at the hidden location!" He closed the door, allowing the driver to leave the parking lot, as well as the three to themselves. She suddenly felt a hand take hold of hers, and glanced at Brief, who presented her with a smile paired with a concerned look in his eyes. It was hard, picturing his eyes behind that mess of hair, but she could feel how worried he was about her, and the very feeling made her heart skip a beat.

"I'm sure everything will be fine Stocking." He assured her. She nodded and gently squeezed his hand for a second, taking in its warmth before pulling away. She shouldn't be so negative and worried right? It was a time of massive celebration and fun for the three duelists! Suddenly, thoughts of what kind of decks she would face came to mind, as she didn't know how meta the people of Daten City were with their decks. Brief played an altered version of the Quickdraw engine, and Sal played a Light Rabbit deck, one of the first of its kind if she knew correctly. So she was unsure if she would meet any meta decks or if everything that would come their way would be nothing but odd decks like her own.

"Hey! Yea, you three right there!" The guy who came towards them was a simple, plain nerd whose appearance she wouldn't remember in ten minutes. The only odd thing was his duel disk, which was the classic era model with bright brown and a dark tan look, giving it a beach theme. "Which one of you are known as the Fiend Ruler?" At that she turned to Sal, who shook her head and shrugged. Everyone knew that Sal called her by the nickname Fiend Queen, but it wouldn't be surprising if she created a new nickname behind her back.

"I call Stocking Fiend Queen, but not Fiend Ruler. So you're talking to the wrong group bud." Rather than thank them and walk away, he looked directly at Stocking and whipped out his duel disk, turning it on and placed his deck into it. As to be expected from someone who was just like the rest.

"I take it you wish to try and beat my recipe of a deck then?" Stocking asked with a stern tone. The guy gave her a harsh glare before shuffling his deck, leaving her to do the same as she set her duel disk to start the projectors. As soon as she was done, she looked around and noticed that a few people were already circling their group for reasons unknown.

"I'm going to not only take your C-Ring, but be known for taking out the Fiend Ruler herself. A great way to build up my street cred. Lets duel!"

"Fine," Stocking replied as she set her life points to 8000, "But I get to go first, considering how much of a novice chef you're being." Though he was confused at her food related terms, he did nothing to prevent her from taking the first turn. Her first draw, and her hand, was less than favorable, but it was filled to the brim with stall cards, which was what she would use to keep herself in the lead. "I draw, and normal summon my **Slate Warrior** (1900/400) in attack mode!" Her blue Fiend stood curiously in front of her, forcing his disconnected arms away from his body every few moments. Again, Kona really outdid himself with the technology put into the holograms for each monster. "I set two face downs and end my turn."

"I draw," The currently nameless nerd started off, "and I activate the magic card **Magical Mallet**! This allows me to add any amount of cards in my hand back into my deck, shuffle it, and draw the amount I put into it. I'll be adding in two cards!" A ten foot red mallet with small angel wings appeared over the nameless nerd, slamming itself into his duel disk before disappearing from the field. The grin he held onto as he drew his two new cards grew in size as he sent his spell to the grave, though she didn't worry about whatever he drew just yet. "I normal summon my **Gladiator Beast Andal **and end my turn!"

"That is the step you made me wait so long for? Whatever your recipe of a deck is mustn't be too impressive then." Stocking commented, earning a few chuckles from the crowd around them. Her words held no effect on the nameless nerd though, which was odd. "I draw, set one and end my turn."

"And who is the one that said that my deck isn't impressive, hm?" The nerd spoke to her. "I guess you're reaching a dry spell of Fiends to come to your aid. I draw!" One more card later, he activated the new card right away. "I activate **Card Trader**! Once per standby phase, I can send a card from my hand to the deck and draw a card in exchange for shuffling it before I draw!" Despite the fact that it was an interestingly troublesome card, it wasn't worth the **Mystical Space Typhoon** in her hand to use. "I then normal summon my **Dark Blade** (1800/1500)-"

"Sorry to interrupt your lame spices, but I activate **Trap Hole**, destroying your **Dark Blade** before it can even do a thing!" It was amusing to see the Warrior type monster in his black armor widen its eyes to cartoonish level as it disappeared in the random hole.

"Oh, then I guess I'll just end my turn then. Not much else I can do right?"

_'What is his game?'_ He wasn't worrying about his deck or his monsters like a normal duelist. Did it mean that whatever he needed to win the game was in his hand already? Was it possible that he was running an Exodia deck, and he was waiting for the final peice of Exodia to come to his hand at the last moment?

Okay, it wasn't that likely, but it could happen nonetheless.

"My turn," Stocking stated before drawing her card, "I end my turn." **Damage Mage** is a good card for life gain, but its 600 attack points would of done nothing but act as unnecessary bait. Bait that she wanted to save for later on. After the nameless nerd drew his new card, he activated **Card Trader's** effect, which triggered a masked man with a shit eating grin to take the offered card and shuffled it into his deck without any hassle.

"Ah, gotta love the ability to get that altered chance of luck. Unlike you, Fiend Ruler, who has nothing to defend yourself except a puny monster and some backrow." Her Slate Warrior threw its head at the nerd, who recoiled in fear of it hitting his chest, only to "bounce" off and return to her Fiend's shoulders. It was amusing to see her opponent frightened at a simple hologram. "A-anyway! It is still my turn, and I normal summon my second copy of **Dark Blade** (1800/1500)!"

_'Wait,'_ Stocking stopped herself from activating her trap card, _'He is going for another card in his hand to put in the spell zone. I need to see what cake he is trying to make and ruin it if it isn't up to my tastes.'_

"I overlay my two Normal monsters in order to Xyz summon my **Number 50: Blackship of Corn** (2100/1500)!"

"Uh, no thanks." Stocking stated, flipping over one of her traps. "I am not in the mood to see a veggie this early in the morning. I activate my Compulsory Evacuation Device, sending it back to your Extra Deck, and its materials to the grave." She finally got a glare from the nerd, but the smirk he wore alongside the glare caused her confusion. What was his deal with her? Was he even seriously playing this duel? Why didn't he react in a more loud and rageful way at how his Xyz monster was destroyed with ease?

"Oh so cruel and calculating. Just like a Fiend, am I right?" The nerd, now without any monsters on the field, ended his turn without so much of a set card to keep her guessing. One card later, and Stocking found herself suddenly not caring at his lack of field and pushed forward.

"I'm sending my **Slate Warrior** to attack you directly with Whirling Madness!" As the attack name suggested, her monster spun around, flinging its arms and head at the nameless nerd without any sort of interference, causing his life points to drop to 6100. _'And to think, it only took like three, four turns to do it too.'_ With that sarcastic thought out of her mind, she set a card before ending her turn.

"I draw, and I activate **Card Trader's** effect once again." She hoped that he drew something that would be able to attack over her **Slate Warrior**, for she had something special just prepared for him as punishment for his foolish mistake. What was odd about his deck was that he ran more normal monsters than what was expected in the current game, which caused her to wonder exactly WHAT kind of deck was he running. "I use **Lightning Vortex**, discarding my **Armored Zombie** to the grave to destroy your **Slate Warrior**!" One lighting bolt to her monster's face later, she watched as her monster disappeared in a flood of pixels, forcing her to send it to the graveyard where it now belonged. "I continue by normal summoning my **Achacha Archer** (1200/600), and activate its effect!" A bald warrior wearing silver armor, though its chest was covered by a yellow long sleeve which were hidden by a pair of long blue gloves, appeared in front of her opponent. It took an arrow from its quiver and shot it at her chest, causing her to glare as she noticed her life points went down by 500, putting her at 7500. "When my archer is either normal or flip summoned, he inflicts 500 points of damage to you!"

"And I should care why?" Stocking asked, stopping the nerd in his tracks. Before he could say something to her, she slapped her **Damage Mage** (600/1200)on a monster slot, making the robed girl appear on her side of the field. Her mage flicked her arm in one graceful motion, allowing a yellow wing to appear and cover her in a yellow aura for a moment. In that moment, her life point counter returned to 8000, earning a frown from her opponent. "When you activate any card effect that forces me to take damage, not only is my **Damage Mage** special summoned, but it gives me life points equal to the damage I took, making your summon pointless."

"Hm, not a problem. I can still attack your weaker monster. Drive that arrow through its heart my archer!" His warrior sent an arrow towards her own, though one card later, and the arrow disappeared into a colorful bin, which appeared above her opponent and forced the arrow to dive right into his brain.

"My trap card, **Magic Cylinder**, not only negates your attack, and forces you to take damage equal to your monster's attack. Now how does that 1200 points of damage taste? I bet it is quite disgusting, just like the worm you are. Now then, do you end?" The nerd simply nodded, not saying anything, which was a pleasant change in pace. "I draw, put my **Damage Mage** in defense mode before ending my turn."

"I draw and activate **Card Trader's** effect." Rinse and repast what she knew would happen. "I normal summon my second **Achacha Archer** (1200/600), inflicting 500 points of damage to you, which I am sure you can't negate." One arrow found its way to her duel disk, placing her at 7500 life points. A decent amount, considering her opponent was at 4900, which was nearly half his life points down the drain. "I attack with-"

**"Negate Attack."**

"You really do enjoy stalling for time. Your Fiends have given up on you, so why continue this duel? I end."

"Because, ass wipe," Stocking drew her card, and wished it was something else, "my deck knows me best. I won't force it to do whatever I wish it to just to win. You're hurting your deck by doing that. I activate my **Mystical Space Typhoon**, forcing your **Card Trader** to the grave! With that, I end my turn."

"I draw!" One card later, and he smiled at her. "I agree, my deck does care for me, as I set one card and overlay my two **Achacha** Archers in order to Xyz summon my **Grenosaurus** (2000/1900)!" A familiar red dinosaur appeared in front of the nameless nerd, spewing a bit of fire from its mouth after it was summoned. She knew what he was about to do, but she had a monster of her own to bring out.

"Since you special summoned, I can discard one card in order to special summon my **Chaos Hunter** (2500/1500) from my hand to the field!" A tall, busty woman that wore a red leather outfit appeared next to her Damage Mage. She flicked her whip at the dinosaur, making it take several steps back, but that didn't make it stop staring at her monsters.

"No matter, I will send my **Grenosaurus** to attack your **Damage Mage**, and when it is destroyed, I will detach a material from my Xyz monster to inflict 1000 points of damage to you!" A ghost of a fireball hit her, making her take a few steps back as she watched her life points drop to 6500. "Make your move Fiend Ruler."

"With pleasure!" _'Damn, why did I draw a **Damage Mage**! I could of used it instead of the **Heavy Storm**...'_ With what she had in hand, she had no choice but to waste the **Heavy Storm** on a single card, simply because all it took was one card to destroy her. A fact that, while unlikely, happened more often that she honestly expected. "I activate my **Heavy Storm**, destroying your face down!"

"Aww, running out of pawns Ruler of the Fiends?" Instantly, his trap card was activated, causing her to widen her eyes at what appeared. While it was an older card to be used in the current meta, for a normal monster deck like the nameless nerd's deck, it was perfect to use. "I activate **Backup Soldier**, allowing me to add three normal type monsters from my graveyard to my hand! You wasted such a powerful spell card just to give me a wonderful gift! I should thank you."

"I attack your **Grenosaurus** with **Chaos Hunter**." No nickname of an attack this time, as she simply wanted for her opponent to be defeated as soon as possible. He was strange, being called Fiend Ruler was strange, and the way he was treating her made things so abnormal.

"My turn. I can't do much, so I activate my **Scapegoat** spell card, allowing me to place four Sheep tokens onto the field in defense mode. Hope you have fun slaying away at them my dear."

"Your sheep look like they're going through an acid trip to the grave. I draw." _'Finally!'_ Stocking smiled at herself in joy and placed the card she drew to the side. She sighed at the field, knowing that, for four turns, he would be able to buy some time to possibly put whatever his plan is into action, though she hoped that he wouldn't be able to succeed. "I send my Hunter to attack one of your sheep tokens before ending my turn!"

"Not a problem at all. I set the card I just drew before ending my turn."

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that you're giving up. My turn!" One card to her hand, and she liked the new bait she had on hand. No one, unless they were a new player, would ignore the bait for long. "I summon my **Creation Resonator** (800/600), and send both of my monsters to attack your tokens!" Her newest monster, a small gremlin dressed in a ceremonial robe with a pair of light blue wings that went through a metal fan that, to her, acted as a propeller, appeared, and used the tuning items it had to stab a wound into one of the tokens. Her **Chaos Hunter**, on the other hand, slammed one of the tokens into the ground with her whip, causing Stocking to wonder why her monsters were so ruthless at times for a second before ending her turn.

"I normal my **Gladiator Beast Andal **(1900/1500), and send it to attack your Creation Resonator!" The smirk on Stocking's face grew a thousand fold, and from the look of worry her opponent suddenly wore, she knew he knew that he did something he would regret. It was time to bring out the big guns!

"By sending a Fiend in my hand to the grave, as well as a Fiend on the field to the grave, I can special summon from my have **Darkness** **Neosphere**!" Her prized monster appeared before her, dismissing the Gladiator Beast with a flap of her wings. She knew that she was getting a lot of chatter about her monster, and she didn't care much for it at this point. Her opponent, on the other hand, did care what the crowd began to say, as he looked around and widened his eyes at **Darkness Neosphere.**

"A true Fiend unlike any other! How low have you sunk to the depths of Hell, Fiend Ruler! I, sadly, must end my turn!"

"Okay! What is your fucking deal kid!" Stocking shouted as she drew her card. She set her new card on the field before sending her **Darkness Neosphere **to attack his monster, destroying it and inflicting 2100 points of damage, putting him at 2300. With his other token destroyed, thanks to her **Chaos Hunter**, his field was now left open to assault, which would be a clean win for her either way next turn. "What do you have against me?!"

"I hate you for what you did to my sisters! You killed them in order to take their decks, and I will avenge them! My draw, and I activate my **Magical Mallet**, sending four cards from my hand back to the deck!"

"What are you talking about? I haven't killed anyone!" The nerd now wore a look of pure evil on his face, rage poured from his soul as he glared at her. What happened for him to be so hateful to her, who did nothing wrong?

"Shut up and accept your fate!" Once his cards were shuffled, he drew his new cards, and the look on his face grew even more twisted. Would he become the next Louis? Was this game really worth the fun she got if she made Ghosts at the end of the day? A voice broke her from her thoughts, and it was a voice she began to rely on, whether she knew it or not.

"Don't listen to him Stocking-chan!" Brief shouted from the crowd. He had a frown on his face, and she noticed a few men wearing black suits were standing somewhat close to him as well, though why they were there she had no clue. "He knows nothing of the kind and wonderful person you are. So don't listen to him!"

"Silence!" The nameless nerd called out, gaining back her attention. "It is still my turn, and my deck has given me the tools to defeat you here and now! I activate **The Warrior Returning Alive**, allowing me to add my **Achacha Warrior** back to my hand! Next, I normal summon my **Dark Blade** (1800/1500), and return all the monsters in my graveyard to my deck to special summon **Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord**!" Words escaped her mouth as she watched a close copy of **Exodia, the Forbidden One** appear in front of her as her enemy. The anger upon its face sent shivers down her spine, and the way it stood as tall as a skyscraper made her feel so small as if she didn't matter anymore in the grand scheme of life.

"Don't be frightened Stocking!" Sal called out to her. "It is just a monster! Like any other monster, you can still defeat it and destroy him for good!"

"I think not! I activate **Symbols of Duty**, which allows me to special summon any monster in either player's graveyard to my side of the field in exchange for tributing a normal monster, like my Dark Blade!" His warrior transformed, taking the shape of her **Slate Warrior** (1900/400) and was placed in defense mode. She wondered as to why he would pick that monster, but had no time to think as his Exodius grew in size, (1000/0). "Confused at the increase? He gains 1000 attack for every normal monster in my graveyard. I set two cards and end my turn. Come, and make your last move Queen of Fiends!"

"I had nothing to do with the deaths of your sisters! I am sorry they are gone from your life, but I will not let you put your anger on me, who has done nothing wrong! My turn!" Though the card she drew wasn't necessary, it would help out at the current moment. "I normal summon my **Archfiend Soldier** (1900/1500), and I send my **Chaos Hunter** to attack-"

"I activate **Negate Attack**, which stops the attack and ends the battle phase. Feels horrible doesn't it? Now MAKE YOUR LAST MOVE!"

"I end. Though, this won't BE my last move, you idiot of a duelist!"

"My turn, and I activate my Exodius' effect! When I declare an attack with him, I can send a normal monster from my deck to the graveyard, which puts him at 2000 attack points! Now go my monster, destroy her soldier of Hell with your Fist of Fate!"

"Not so fast!" Stocking interrupted her opponent. She flipped her face down, glaring at him as a colorful barrel took in the fist and sent it through another, which directed the attack right at her opponent. "You know what **Magic Cylinder** does already, so I feel no need to explain it. Do you end?" He fell on one of his knees, taking a deep breath as he signaled for the end of his turn, and slowly drew her card. As cruel as it was, she now had a bright side to look forward to, as she drew something that would really brighten her day, even at the cost of Brief's joy. "Oi, Brief!"

"Ah, uh, yes Stocking-chan?" The confused pout on his face was so cute, but she couldn't look at it for long. Not to mention she would be getting some personal alone time with him in a matter of moments anyway.

"Be prepared to hand your deck over for some tuning. This is the final turn for you, oh sorrowful soul! I activate **Galaxy Queen's Light**, making all of my monsters match the level of **Darkness** **Neosphere**, making the level 10! I overlay **Archfiend Soldier** and **Chaos Hunter** to **Darkness Neosphere** in order to Xyz summon **Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer** (5000/2000)!" In a blast of pure light and explosions came the challenge she was to summon. The tall, mighty megazord robot that rivaled her opponent's monster in size and mass, though she knew that hers was MUCH stronger than his, as it has 5000 attack points. Very few monsters have such high attack right from the start, and she was lucky enough to bring one out with just the right components too.

"No...THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE!" The nameless nerd screamed, catching her attention again. He now began to cry as he looked down in defeat. Was the stress from his soul and the duel finally getting to him? "I was to beat you! I NEED to beat you!"

"Get over yourself and repent motherfucker! I detach one material from Superdimensional, destroying all of your spells and traps, which you can't activate any of them to my monster's effect, and I send him to attack your Exodius, which is game." Her mighty robot slammed its fist into the Spellcaster, earning her a loud groan of defeat as it broke into pixels before it landed on the ground, though Stocking felt odd as the monster stared directly at her before its head disappeared into nothingness. The projectors turned off soon after, with hers returning to her duel disk, and she walked over to her opponent, whose disk forcefully opened itself and shot the black C-Ring onto the ground two feet from him. "Again, I apologize for your loss." Was all she said to the nameless nerd before she picked up her prize and walked away, leaving the soul to mourn in peace.

As soon as she was able to get past the crowd of duelists who were hoping to get a challenge from her, she sat down and wiped a tear that threatened to fall. Why did this city have to remind her so much of her life in Heaven? Why did it have to remind her of HIM!

"Stocking?" She looked up, and noticed her two friends, Sal and Brief, were watching here with a careful look upon their face. They were concerned, but unsure as to what to do at this moment, which was fine. This was a first for her as well, since she hoped she wouldn't break into any more crying fits like this, seeing as her last one was years ago. She smiled, pointing at Brief with a forced grin on her face.

"You owe me your deck to work on Brief-kun. So hand it over!"

"B-but I just worked on it to make it faster!" Sal giggled as she stood up and poked Brief's forehead. Oh why did he have to act so cute when he didn't want to give up something?

"So what? A bet is a bet Briefers Rock. If I was to get out **Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer** out in front of you before you could get out your **Neo-Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon** in front of me, then I would be allowed to work on your deck to whatever I see fit." With that said, she plucked the deck box off his belt, causing him to blush as she ran towards the nearest store, a honest smile now on her face as she heard Brief and Sal chasing after her._ 'And this is why I love my current friends.'_

* * *

He lost. He lost. He lost. He lost. He lost. He LOST! How could he lose? His depression and hate for his current loss was perfect for manipulating, and yet he couldn't defeat the Angel? How utterly pathetic of him. If he went against his target, then maybe things would of been different, though he doubted that to be honest. Only a soul like himself, who has gone through so much throughout his life, could ever hope to handle what his target could do. He waited for the crowd to disperse from the warrior he claimed as his own before stepping forward, waiting for him to look up at the now imposing shadow.

"F-F-Fa-"

"You have nothing to fear now dear Steven." He spoke as he placed he hand upon the boy's forehead. A breath was taken as he felt the device on his wrist take action, silently drilling the bullet into the skull of the child. All other than he and select others were but children under the savior, so he hoped that this soul would find peace. "Find your sisters, and be at ease with them in the warm comfort of Heaven." It was easy to take his duel disk and deck away before leaving the boy be, crouched onto the ground in the position of praying, slapping an industrial band-aid upon the forehead so no one would notice anything for at least twenty minutes. But by that time he would be gone, hopefully with a third disciple under his guidance so he may claim his target away from the foul corruption of this town and allow the target to live in peace.

He, Garterbelt, would not fail his personal mission.

-Author Note-

Hello readers, reviewers, and followers. As usual, I don't own Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its continuations with the exception of some dvds, cards, and a key chain. With that said, please don't hate me for the ending of this chapter! While I bet not many people would consider my course of action to be sane, I do have my reasons for it. Reasons that you will, sadly, have to wait to find out by reading the updates that come from this. Now then, as for the duel itself, it took much longer than I hoped, though I was impressed by how well the deck lasted against Stocking, considering how the overall design wasn't my best work.

For those of you who don't know, Exodius' effect is quite beneficial, as he not only forces you to return all of your creatures to the deck in order to bring him out, but he also forces you to mill normal monsters to buff him up each time you attack. Sure, you could just go the Exodia peice route and go for true game, but I didn't want to be like the anime and make the first opponent have a true Exodia styled deck. So, I went for normal bashing, as I nicknamed the deck during its construction. Sadly, I didn't have enough Rescue Rabbits to make the deck truly evil, but if I do keep this deck as is, I might try it out with two in there. In the end, Steven got his spotlight, his memory shall live on in dueling, and we shall see what exactly Stocking does to Brief's deck next chapter, or shall we see Sal take the spotlight for a change? Either way, now to move on to the reviews!

**HotelKatz**: Ah, Panty shall be doing something in relation to her sister and the current events we've seen, though as to what exactly is yet to be seen.

**The Lord Of Pages:** I do hope you were able to enjoy the chapter, and Dragunities are one of those archtypes that, while not hit so bad from the September banlist, they're still a semi-expensive deck when trying to go for the synchros, hence why Dueling Network is a staple for all deck construction. Basically, it allows you to play any deck you want without buying any cards in RL to build a deck, only to find out that it just isn't for you. Then again, I prefer the good old style of just buying packs and working with what I pull, so don't hold my words to heart!

**Laddie7**: I won't lie. To a sense you forced my hand with this chapter, as I honestly thought when I first read your review "How the L's sugar tea did they get into my mind for one of my ideas?!" So kudos to you on that. The part you are most likely confused about is when no one really did anything exciting for their turns, simply entering a dead draw and setting a card just to end their turn. That part of the threeway duel (in RL) was dull and ironic to come across, since each deck is meant to be aggressive. Still, I'm glad to hear that you enjoy the way I write the duels, and the P&S/Evangelion cross is coming soon!

**Trace** **Lokison**: To be fair, I have considered building a Nordic deck, taking all three of the gods and putting it in one deck, but I don't have the resources or the time to get all the necessary cards at the moment for that particular deck. Though I have been coming across them on Pojo, where I do many of my online trades.

To those of you who took the time to favorite and follow the story: Thank you for your interest, and I do hope to hear from you in the future. Either way, thank you all for reading, and I do hope to hear your thoughts about this chapter, the characters, or even the duel in the form of reviews. Until next time!


	11. Arc 2: The Changing Winds!

Ouch, only one review for the last chapter? I am assuming that the lack of reviews was due to the role Garterbelt is going to play in this arc, so I suppose I can understand as to how odd and shocking it is. Either way, hello readers, reviewers, and followers of Sugar, Geeks, and Card Games, Oh My! Here we are with yet another new chapter, and I do hope that everyone enjoys this one much more than the other, considering how it only got one review. Page, you are one loyal reader that I hope to have with me and my other stories for a long time. So, I'll be answering his review here.

**The Lord Of Pages:** Toon decks are one of those types that are in need of a major rework and some aid to make them more useful. There are still many people who want to play them, but hate the 2000 that tends to come with playing them. Garterbelt's role will be further explain in future chapters, but for now not much shall be said.

Oh, and as usual, I don't own Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Yu-Gi-Oh, or anything that finds itself a home in this story. I do own original characters though, as well as some P&S stuff and a ton of Yu-Gi-Oh cards and manga to boot. With that dull stuff out of the way, lets get to this special chapter, shall we?

"Normal Talking."

_'Mental Thoughts.'_

**"Card Names."**

* * *

"You're not going to leave me with a single card from my original deck in this new one are you?" Brief asked the Goth girl by his side. She looked up at him and shook his head, allowing him to take notice of the heavy Xyz support she was preparing for the deck before she looked down. While he wouldn't deny that he enjoyed the Xyz archtype, especially due to how easy they were to bring out at times, he preferred Synchros and their constant effects that were much more reliable than Xyz monsters. He didn't understand as to why Synchros were pushed to the back burner of the game, but all it meant to him was that they were usually cheaper, with the exception of the staples such as **Stardust Dragon**, **Black Rose Dragon**, various Blackwing synchros, and others that he couldn't put his finger on. It truly did bring his mood down to see such interesting archtypes, such as the T.G., Genex, and X-Sabers, become worthless when they still had so much potential to become a top tier deck.

"You rely on Synchro monsters much more than anything else, and it is time for you to stick to Xyz monsters, if only for a day."

"Just for a day?"

"Yea," Stocking paused so she could place his new extra deck to the side, "we never agreed as to how long we would have to play with our new decks. So, while I would make you use it until the end of this tournament, I will be nice and simply let you use it for today only, maybe tomorrow if we can't find you a duelist to go up against. Sound fair?"

"That is more than fair Stocking." Brief sat down at the table next to hers, looking at Sal, who got inspired by Stocking's work on his new deck and began to work on her own once again. He couldn't deny being so amused by her constant alterations to her deck, as it meant that she wanted her deck to not be predictable or lose interest, which could lead to great things or ruin. It was then that he realized that Sal would do wonders with a Vylon, Lightsworn, or Arcana deck, considering how lucky she was with her play style, as well as her personal combos with the Light card types, though that brought him to another issue he had with her deck.

Why was she constantly playing Light types? Many different decks played with a small mixture of attributes, may they be Chaos styled decks, Dinosaurs turned Dino-Rabbit, Water/Wind Banished, and there were many other names that popped in his mind just calling to be used. But a pure Light deck, while good with **Gozen March**, could be troublesome against opponents that could shut down such a deck, such as Catastor decks. A strong gust of wind came through their direction, blowing away some of the cards on the table to the ground, instantly calling for him to save them before they could be taken by the unnatural wind.

How he knew the wind was unnatural, he didn't know, nor did he question the sudden information as he picked everything that Stocking and Sal couldn't save. Sadly, as he got off the ground with the cards in hand, he bumped Stocking's table, sending one card he personally cared for into the air current that took it above the city, and it was one that he didn't wish to lose.

"No, **Stardust Dragon**!"

"I'll get it Brief!" He heard Sal shout, duel disk and cards by her side, before he saw her run into the distance, following the direction of the flying card. He didn't understand why his heart felt as if it was being torn in half by this event, but he wanted the pain to stop by any means necessary. When he felt a hand touch his shoulder, he turned to see Stocking's beautiful eyes looking upon him with concern and felt his pain dwindle just a bit.

"Come," she started off, "we should wait for Sal inside the cafe. We can even share a few slices of cake if you'd like." Despite the nod he replied with and the smile he showed her, he gripped the stack of cards in his hand a bit tighter than he would of liked, hoping that Sal could get back his **Stardust Dragon** before anything bad happened to it.

-Chapter 11: The Changing Winds!-

"Dammit! The sunlight is getting in the way!" If she wasn't in such a serious situation, Sal would of laughed at her own irony. Her, being a big fanatic of Light types, getting bothered by light itself. She supposed that she shouldn't of left Stocking get the card, considering she was an Angel who had wings that would of got the card before it took a trip around the city itself. She noticed a sign of the airborne card to her right and hurried after it, only to realize that the card fell to the ground of a very busy street and proceeded to groan at her luck. Maybe if she waited for one of the passing cars to create a small burst of wind to get it off the street, she could get it?

Unfortunatly, the light changed to red, forcing the first car to stop right next to the card she was to reclaim and lowered down the window. A rather wicked looking man looked down at the card and smiled. Oh no, surely he didn't play...

"Hey look, a **Stardust Dragon**!" Sal ran into the street, uncaring for the car that nearly took out her leg, and grabbed the card right as the man opened his car door. Luckily for her, her right arm hit the door, forcing it closed, as well as got the card at the same time, allowing her a small moment of joy before hurrying off the dangerous street. Despite the sore feeling that covered her arm, she was glad to have the small task complete, and made her way back towards the cafe where Stocking and Brief were waiting for her.

At least, she would have, if she wasn't stopped by a car horn catching her attention. She turned her head to see the same Buick model car that she slid into to get the card pull up to the side walk and revealed the same wicked man that nearly got Brief's card. "Uh... Can I help you?" Was all she could say to the unusual circumstance before her.

"Yes, you can give me back that twenty dollar card you have in your hand."

"Uh, no." Sal replied, putting the card in the extra deck slot of her duel disk. Since the extra deck, main deck, and graveyard had a small tab that pressed down on the card slots, it made it nearly impossible for the cards to be blown away, hence making her grin at her choice of stashing the card away. "This card belongs to a friend of mine, and there is no way I am giving it up to someone who only cares about money." The man stepped out of the car, revealing that he was easily two feet taller than her, making her wonder as to why such a tall person drove a tiny looking car like a Buick, as well as that he had a duel disk that was pure white.

"How about we duel for it then?" The man suggested, causing her to frown at the offer. Noticing it, he pointed back to his car door, which she realized now had a rather large dent on it. "If I win, not only do you have to give me that card, but you also have to pay for the repair of my car door. I will be nice though, and give you your own prize. If you win not only do you not have to pay for the dent, but you'll also get my C-Ring in the process. Do we have a deal?"

_'I can't pay that. My job as a cashier wouldn't be able to pay for something like that with the other bills I have to pay!'_ "You're on." She mumbled, lifting her duel disk and started up the projectors. Seeing this, the man turned off his car and took several steps away from it, giving the two more than enough room for their monsters to fully project themselves on the field. It was then that she took in his appearance, as a tall, pale skinned man with what seemed to be purple tribal markings on his cheeks would have made a more stand-out impression on her. Maybe it was due to the butler-like outfit he wore that made her ignore such odd features on his face.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to go first." The man said after shuffling his deck. After she nodded, he drew his sixth card and smiled. "Oh yes, my name is Devon, since I failed to introduce myself earlier. I'll start things off by discarding **Fabled Lurrie **(200/400) to the graveyard in order to special summon **The Fabled Nozoochee** (1200/800) in attack mode." What she could only describe as a tattooed snake that wore a blue spiked helmet appeared before the man, smiling at her with a stupid look in its eyes. What furthered her confusion was the tiny blue devil that was clutched by Nozoochee constricting it with its body, causing it to nearly pass out. "However, I am not done, as I can special summon **Fabled Lurrie** from the Graveyard since it was discarded!" A small, light purple demon boy with long, stone gray bat wings appeared by the snake thing. Its red mask with green lenses added to its odd attire, but she was glad that neither of the two were tuner monsters, or else she would be in trouble. "Don't smile just yet, as I tribute my Lurrie to summon my **Fabled Dianaira** (2800/100) in attack mode!

"W-what!" Rather than Lurrie disappear in a flash of pixels, it simply evolved into a tall, muscular demon with charcoal black bat wings that made it look even more frightening than it should have. Its mask now looked different as well, taking the form of a pair of yellow pincers with a red tribal mark on the mask. She couldn't truly describe its new gauntlets, armored pants, or the cloak that now hung from its waist, but she knew that it would be difficult to get over such a powerful beat-stick on turn 1.

"With that, I end my turn with a facedown." With his turn, his FIRST TURN done, she looked at her hand, wondering if what she had at the moment would be enough to help her out against Devon. At least the card she would set would help her for a turn if she didn't draw something good.

"I draw, and I normal summon **Rescue Rabbit** (300/100) in attack mode!" Unfortunately, she drew **Spirit of the Harp**, which meant that she couldn't rely on it or **Alexandrite Dragon** to special summon, considering she had one of each copy in her hand. As soon as her adorable rabbit monster appeared, she proceeded to activate its effect. "I can banish my rabbit in order to special summon two level 4 normal monsters with the same name, and I pick my **Dunames Dark Witch** (1800/1050) duo!" Her two armored Fairies appeared as soon as she stopped talking, though she couldn't appreciate their beauty as she shuffled her deck and moved the two cards over one another. "I then overlay my two witches in order to Xyz summon **Number 39: Utopia** (2500/2000) in attack mode, and I'll attack your nasty yellow snake with its divine slash!" Right as Utopia went to destroy the snake, its armor suddenly turned rusty, including its mighty sword, and looked past her monster to see Devon's backrow card flipped up.

"Sorry, but I activate **Curse of Aging**. By discarding one card from my hand to the grave, I decrease your Utopia's attack and defense by 500 (2000/2000)until the end of the turn. I still take damage and lose my monster though, just not by much (LP: 7200)." She sighed at the monster's destruction, though she would of liked him taking the extra damage that should of went through. Still, she was happy to have a bit of protection until she could get rid of his boss monster, and set down her facedown card. "If that is all, my turn." One card later, she witnessed as a trio of energy swords appeared around her, and she sadly knew what the card was. "My **Swords of Revealing Light** will force you to halt your attacking for three turns, which I will gladly take advantage of. I will-"

"Sorry, but my **Threatening Roar** prevents you from declaring any attacks this turn!"

"Heh," He chuckled, "I end my turn then, but don't believe that by stalling that you'll be able to stay safe from my holy light!" It was then that she widened her eyes and took notice of his Fabled monster. It was...a Light type monster! But the Fiend type monsters are never Light attributes! It was just unheard of!

"Oh shut up!" Sal insulted, but drew her card with a sour thought in mind. _'How can I beat someone that may run a deck just as dangerous as Stocking's own?'_ "I normal summon **Shining Angel** before ending my turn!"

"Oh?" Devon curled his eyebrows at the play, but said nothing more as he drew his card. "It is time to show how badly you misplayed. I send this card to the graveyard in order to special summon my second **The Fabled Nozoochee** (1200/800), but that is not all. I activate his second effect, which allows me to special summon 1 level 2 or lower Fabled monster from my graveyard to the field, and I pick my first Nozoochee, and overlay the two to Xyz summon **Gachi Gachi Gantetsu** (500/1800) in defense mode!" A tall, muscular light blue Viking of a man appeared next to Devon's monster, covered in a similar metal armor, but quickly crouched down and placed its arms in front of its chest. "Also, for every material it has, it not only gains 200 attack and defense points for each material (900/2200), but so do my other face-up monsters, such as Dianaira (3200/500)!"

"Oh shit!" Sal said much louder than she intended. Devon smirked at her before pointing at her Utopia.

"I already know that you'll detach a material to negate an attack, so lets save ourselves the trouble of announcing it and just do it, alright?" Sal complied and removed one of Utopia's materials, allowing Devon to end his turn. She was lucky that one of the swords surrounding her faded, signaling that he only had two more turns to hold her down until she was allowed to attack him with something strong and heavy.

_'But can I do it in time?'_ Is the question that plagued her mind. "I draw!" She did her best to prevent herself from shouting in joy, and instead smiled at the card she drew. With **Photon Lead**, she could special summon one of the Light monsters in her hand, normal another, and bring out **Vylon Disigma**, taking control of his Fabled monster, as well as taking away a beater all at once! "I activate the spell card **Photon Lead**! With this, I can special summon a level 4 or lower Light monster in face-up attack position!"

"Sorry," Devon interrupted, "but that card will make me discard a card since it is a normal spell, thanks to **Fabled Dianaira's **second effect." Sal smirked and gave him a thumbs down. Was he really so dense?

"Uh, no! **Photon Lead** is a quick-play spell card, which means I can still get it on with my special summon, and I pick **Spirit of the Harp** (800/2000), as well as normal summon **The Forgiving Maiden** (850/2000). With these three monsters on the field, I overlay them in order to Xyz summon **Vylon Disigma** (2500/2100) in attack mode!" Disigma was a beautiful Fairy monster, that Sal knew for sure. Despite the peaceful face that was shown on the chest of the mechanical body, the harsh glare from the crow head it had promised swift yet fair judgment to those that must be punished! And with its effect, she knew that punishment would be dealt in just a few moments. "I activate my monster's effect. By detaching one material, I can pick one Effect monster on your side of the field and equip it to this card, such as your Dianaira!"

"No, my **Fabled Dianaira**!" Devon shouted as Disigma's long, metallic arms tore the Fiend from his side of the field and wrapped it in metal bindings, literally attaching it to its arm. "What have you done to my holy Fiend?!" Sal made a face in response to the question.

"Now, whenever I attack with Disigma, if it battles a Light monster, it is automatically destroyed! Since I can't do anything this turn, I end." Devon drew his card, signaling another turn from his Swords of Revealing Light, and ended his turn. At the silence of her opponent, she grinned and drew her next card. "Aww, can't do anything against the true forces of Light? I set this card down and end my turn, which means that your Swords will be gone after this."

"You're right, Swords will be gone. But MY LIGHT SHALL NOT BE EXTINGUISHED!" Devon drew his new card, which Sal could of sworn glowed for a brief moment, and pointed at her. "I shall start this turn by sending **The Fabled Kokkator** and **The Fabled Catsith** from my hand to the grave in order to revive my **Fabled Soulkius** (2200/2100) to the field in Attack mode!" Though not as freaky as Dianaira, the Fiend dressed similarly to him, though wearing a formal shirt with dark blue, borderline black armor and wore a red mask with black tribal markings on it. "Thanks to **The Fabled Catsith's **effect, since it was discarded, I can destroy one card on the field, and I pick your **Vylon Disigma**!"

"No!" Sal could only watch as a cute, playful looking cat punched a small green devil at her Xyz monster, destroying it, as well as sending the Fabled monster she took back to Devon's graveyard.

"Next, I normal summon **The Fabled Chawa **(200/100), and tune it to Soulkius to Synchro summon **Ancient Fairy Dragon** in defense mode (3000)! Get past these defenses oh false prophet of the light!" Sal nodded, if only to keep her mouth shut from nervousness, and drew her card. If only she had a way to send his Ancient Fairy Dragon to the graveyard, then she would have a reason to play the card she drew, but as for now?

"I have nothing else to do..." She mumbled to herself before glaring at the line of defense he had. "I normal summon **Alexandrite Dragon** (2000/100), and send Utopia to attack your **Gach Gachi Gantetsu**!"

"I'll detach a material to negate its destruction!" Devon replied, allowing his monster to survive for another turn. She knew that if she sent her Dragon to it then only his monster would remain, so she ended her turn, looking at the field and hoped that she wouldn't bump into another road block of some type. "I draw and end my turn."

_'Thank the Heavens.'_ Sal prayed as she picked up her next card. She was happy to have lasted this long, as she had something to get over his Gachi for another turn. "I tribute my Dragon in order to summon **Tethys, Goddess of Light** (2400/1800) in attack mode!" Despite not being as strong as Utopia or her **Vylon Disigma**, she was happy to have such a beautiful Angel by her side, and knew what to do. "I attack your Gachi with both Utopia and Tethys, destroying it for good before ending my turn."

"Lucky break." Devon commented as he sent his Xyz monster to the graveyard. With that, he drew his card and set one before ending. While she was sure that the card in particular was something nasty, she didn't want to use her **Heavy Storm** like Stocking did hours ago, which allowed her opponent to take advantage and put three monsters straight to his hand.

"My turn." Sal said to him as she drew her new card. Despite its usefulness, she needed to save it for later, and ended her turn.

"I draw, and during my standby phase I activate **Non-Aggression Area**!" A purple barrier of fire surrounded her, presenting a face of horror in the fire itself. The sight nearly made her fall to her ass, but she managed to stay on her feet, not that it did much to hide the face from her mind. "By discarding a card from my hand to the grave, this card prevents you from Normal, set, or Special summon any monsters during your next turn, and the card I discard is **The Fabled Catsith**, allowing me to destroy your Utopia!" She watched as yet another green devil was sent at her warrior, forcing it to become a mess of pixels before they disappeared from the field. Why didn't she use her **Heavy Storm** when she had the chance! "I end my turn."

"Thanks. My move!" Despite the horrible move that was played, her deck rewarded her efforts with a very important card that would allow her to win. "I play **Full-Force Strike**! This card allows me to pick a monster, make it indestructible for one turn, and neither of us take battle damage for this turn. When it attacks a monster, that monster is destroyed after damage calculation, and I don't think I have to pick a monster, since you made it impossible for me to summon anything!" Tethys took on a bright yellow glow, making her already holy appearance seem even more divine than normal. "I now attack with her. Destroy his **Ancient Fairy Dragon** with your holy blessing!" It was amusing to see her angel take out his Dragon with a flap of its two wings, but she could do nothing but end her turn, and await for her opponent's next turn.

"I draw, and set one monster before ending my turn."

"Aww, Sal began, "Are your Fiends not showing up when they're needed?" She taunted before drawing her card. Though useful, she didn't need it, and proceeded with her main goal play. "I normal summon **Victoria** (1800/1500), and activate her ability, allowing me to pick a Dragon type monster in your graveyard and special summon it on my side of the field. Oh, and in case you didn't count or keep track, you only have one. Your **Ancient Fairy Dragon** (2100/3000)!" With his monster now on her side, she grinned and pointed at him. "I attack your face down with Victoria," which revealed The Fabled Kokkator (1500) before it was sent to the graveyard, "and go for direct damage with **Ancient Fairy Dragon** and Tethys!"

"No..." Devon mumbled as she watched his life points dwindle to 2700. She knew that he was going to lose next turn, so she ended her turn, ignoring the card she could of put down for a safety measure. "I draw, set one, and end my turn."

"Its been a good game Devon, but this is my win. I draw, and attack for game." She watched as her Tethys destroyed the face down monster, revealing itself to be **Fabled Urustos** (200), before dealing more than enough damage to put his life points at 0. As she went over to him to return the Synchro monster she used to him, he glared at her and went for her extra deck, pulling out the **Stardust Dragon** and dropped the rest of her cards. Before he could get away from her body though, she kicked his arm upwards, forcing him to throw the card in the air, unknowingly making her toss up the **Ancient Fairy Dragon** card in the process, and punched him in the stomach, making him bend downwards. Given the opportunity, she used it to punch his face, making him go down to the ground and picked up her cards, as well as the C-Ring she won from him. Before she could truly take pride in her win, she looked at her hands and realized that she was now missing both his card and Brief's card!

"Shit! Get back here you two runaway cards!" Sal shouted to the sky before running after what she hoped were the two cards in the sky, leaving Devon without a care in the world. Well, she would have, if she didn't bump into someone and fell to the floor, forcing her cards to spill out of her duel disk. "Dammit! Me and my luck today!"

"I am SO sorry! I was in such a hurry and-" The girl in front of her had long, dark blue hair with purple and blonde streaks in it, which clashed with her red dress that reached a little past her ass. Despite the odd pale skin that she had, Sal couldn't recall as to why this girl seemed so familiar to her, but didn't press the issue as she was handed the last of her cards by the individual.

"Oh, where did those cards go?" The girl turned her head and pointed northwest, making Sal tilt her head in the direction.

"I recall seeing something fly over that way before landing on the ground. I hope that helps."

"Thank you!" Sal ran off in the suggested direction, thankful for the bit of aid she was given from the unknown, yet somehow familiar girl.

* * *

Time passed, the duelists around her started to move to better suited areas where they wouldn't be so bothered, and yet Sal couldn't find any hint of the two cards she was trying to find. Sure, she shouldn't really care about the **Ancient Fairy Dragon** that was used against her, but something about that Light monster made her feel good about herself, which made her consider adding a tuner or three into her deck in order to bring it out. She forced herself to shake the Synchro possibilities from her head and focused on her current goal, which was to find Brief's **Stardust Dragon** and return it to him, though she hoped she could find it soon. A strong burst of wind nearly had her fall into an alley, but she kept her footing and was fortunate enough to witness two cards fall to the floor next to a garbage can.

"Ah, its them!" She ran into the alley and picked up the cards, smiling to herself as she held them to her chest and cheered. Not only did she now have two C-Rings to her name, but she also had Brief's card, as well as a new powerful card add to her collection! She only hoped that Stocking and Brief were still at the cafe, so she wouldn't have to call and look all over the place to find them.

"Well well." A voice began, making her stiffen up and slowly turn. There, standing in front of the only path out of the alley, was a sleezy looking man in a blue tux, had slick black hair, and a piercing on the left side of his nose. The only odd trait was his duel disk, a Obelisk Blue model that she didn't know was open to be bought, as well as the shark tooth the guy wore around his neck. "Look what I have here in front of me. A fine slab of meat with two C-Rings, as well as a pair of cards that look quite interesting to own. Care to share the love beautiful?" Sal shook her head, preparing to slip the cards into the slot of her duel disk and run towards the man to knock him down with said duel disk, knowing full well that she only had one shot.

"No way! These belong to my friend, and I just won this C-Ring!" She took a few steps towards him, only to feel something rather heavy collide to the back of her skull, knocking her to the ground. Everything became a blur to her, and she felt someone push her against one of the walls of the alley and took the cards out of her hand. As much as she wanted to do something, her body didn't respond to her wishes, and forced her to do nothing. She could have sworn she heard something, some kind of shout or an order, but the only thing she knew for sure was that it was the sound of a female voice before she was taken into the bliss of unconsciousness.

* * *

She shouldn't be here. She knew that she shouldn't be here in this duel obsessed city, but how else could she be able to get down to a deeper level of understanding if she didn't do what her sister could? So, despite her best wishes, here she was, looking around the city for more people to play against, hoping to get a better understanding of what she wanted to do with her deck in the process. She knew her deck was nearly complete, and it didn't help that most, if not all of the cards she had in her deck were cards she took from that one nerd the day before, as well as from other duelists with something they called an ante, but she knew that there was something missing from this deck, something that put it lower than her sisters or her little unknown lover.

Yes, she knew that romance would bloom between the two, but it was amusing to see that neither of the two truly realized it as of yet.

"Well Well... Look what I have here in front of me. A fine slab of meat with two C-Rings, as well as a pair of cards that look quite interesting to own. Care to share the love beautiful?" She, at first, thought that these words were directed at her, considering that no one would dare call someone else beautiful when she was around; however, she noticed that some second-rate mob guy was standing in front of a dirty alley with a girl not too far ahead of him. She walked a bit away from the pair, only to notice that the girl in question was that black girl that hung around her sister and her lover to learn from them.

"No way! These belong to my friend, and I just won this C-Ring!" Well, it sounded like the girl was handling everything on her own, so she had no reason to get involved with this mess. Right as she took a step away from the alley, a loud 'thud' caught her attention, causing her to turn around and stood where the mob reject stood.

"Stop where you are fuckers!" The piece of scum quickly turned around, though his large lard of muscle was standing in front of the girl with two cards, which were oddly enough in two different colored sleeves, stayed where he was. He looked as if his cock would be average sized, but the muscles he had might make fucking him interesting, though that wasn't the proper thought she should be thinking. "Just hand me those cards, step away from her, and we're good, got me?" The mob reject grinned and spread his arms out, taking the form of someone who tried to impress her with swag she knew he didn't have.

"Now now, I am sure we can work this out in a friendly manner. How about we..." He took the time to look up and down her body, licking his lips a little at the sight of her. Not that she didn't mind getting him turned on of course, considering that was part of her charm. "Take things to my office and sort things out there. I'll even leave your friend alone and have my friend here put her on a bench." She pointed at the unconscious girl and shrugged.

"Che, she ain't my friend." She raised her arm, presenting the five C-Rings she claimed as her own with a wide grin upon her face. She could tell from the two loser's widened eyes that they were more interested in dueling than fucking her, which made things much more simple for her to deal with. "But my sister cares for her, which means that she'll yell my ears off if I don't do something about this. So, here is what we're going to do." With a flick of her arm, she activated her duel disk, making it shuffle her deck without a touch of her hand. Oh, how technology made everyone, including an Angel like her, as lazy as a fat fuck without a social life. "The three of us are going to duel. Your friend there are going to put those two cards in his hand back on that girl's chest, and we're going to each take a turn. Your friend will start things off, followed by me, then you boss man, and with me having a second turn in order to compensate for me being without a partner. You dig? I won't even ask for double my life points. I'll be fine with the standard 8000 set."

"Heh, you don't know who exactly you're messing with doll face, do you?" The man nodded to his underling, allowing her to watch as he placed the two cards, which she noticed were Synchro monsters, on the girl's chest. By the time he took a step away from her, his boss had his deck already shuffled and his duel disk brought to life. "I am known as Aqua in these parts, a member of the Shark Tooth gang, and we're be taking you out for not only your C-Rings, but for a great time between us doll face!"

"Oh~," She fake moaned, "So sure of yourself. Would you like to play with an ante as well? Winner takes all, from the main deck to the extra deck and whatever side deck cards you have on you. Sound fair? I'll let you two fuck me in any hole you want if I lose." Offer anyone the chance of sex their way, and they cave in faster than, well, a cave in.

Leave her alone, she wasn't clever all the fucking time.

"I have no problem with that doll. I just hope you're gonna stay true to your word, or else we'll have to make you stay true to it." She didn't say anything. Instead, she drew her five cards and frowned a bit at what she got. She liked it, but it didn't have that spice or flare her sister or her lover normally had in their first hands.

"I begin." The mob's underling stated, drawing his new card. He looked at his hand for a moment before activating a spell card. "I play **Magical Mallet**, sending three cards from my hand to the deck to shuffle and draw three." The man did the shuffling silently, as if he didn't care for the game in question. Not that she fucking cared if he did or didn't, as it meant she would get an easy win for a weak guy. "I set one monster and one facedown before ending my turn."

"Sheesh, can you sound even more boring than you play?" She commented before placing a finger on her deck. "My turn boys." One card later, and she was frowning at the lack of a kind of monster that she needed. Sure, the one she drew would be nice for later, but it would do her no fucking good at this moment. "Give me a round of applause for **Harpie Lady 1** (1300/1400) in attack mode!" The tall, busty winged beauty appeared in a swirl of wind, causing her bright red hair to gracefully dance around the beautiful monster. As if to show that she was just as deadly as she was beautiful, the size of her talons grew quite a bit. "Oh yes, in case you were too focused on her curves boys, she gives herself and any Wind monster a 300 attack bonus, putting her at 1600. I'll set one card down and end my turn." Aqua grinned like, as lame of a pun as it was, a shark before drawing his new card. She hoped that she could become as excited as he must be, considering she was the only one with a face-up monster.

"I will start things off with a beauty to rival your own, **Mermaid Archer** (1200/200)!" She couldn't deny that the monster he brought out was beautiful, considering it was as busty as her sister, showed off as much cleavage as she did all the time, and had long, blue hair that could be equal to hers in term of length. She hated having competition to her cleavage and hair length, so that girl had to go.

"Uh, no thanks. I don't play nice with other girls water boy. I activate **Trap Hole**, sending your little Ariel reject to the graveyard." She grinned as his monster disappeared into a sudden hole, causing him to frown at the lack of physical protection. With one card down to his back-row, he ended his turn, allowing her to take her extra turn. "And now its back to my spotlight!" The card she drew was useful, but she wanted the other kind of card! Ugh, why did her deck give her this stuff when she didn't need it? "I normal summon my **Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon** (1200/600) and send the two to attack you directly water boy."

"I think not! I activate **Poseidon Wave**, negating your Harpie's attack!" A large, random wave made her beautiful monster stop her attack, as well as forced her back in front of her. She still grinned as he placed the card in his graveyard. "Just be happy I don't have a monster on the field, or else you'd be sorry."

"But you can't stop my Baby Pet's attack, can you?" Suddenly, a horde of chains captured her Dragon, forcing it in attack position without any sign of being released. She looked at his silent underling and glared. "Oi, mime boy, what da fak!"

"I activated **Shadow Spell**, making it impossible to declare an attack, as well as decreasing its attack by 700, making it 800. Do you end?" All she could do was flip him off before telling him to take his turn. What a dick! But then again, all underlings served their asses for their boss, even if they weren't the head boss, so it made sense. "My turn." A moment of silence later, and nodded his head. "I end my turn."

"Wow... All of that just to end your turn. Kinda lame, just telling ya the truth. My turn boys!" She happily drew her card, grinning at the sight of the card she drew. While it wasn't what she needed, it would help. "I activate **Terraforming**! This cool card allows me to pluck a field spell from my deck and add it to my hand! That card, which I will activate, shall be **Harpies' Hunting Ground**!" The playing field around them suddenly changed to a barren wasteland that was surrounded by a few mountains, making them literally trapped between several peeks. Though she wished she could have a guy trapped between her peeks, she didn't comment on it and continued her turn. "I then normal summon **Gusto Codor** (1000/400), which not only gets a boost from my **Harpie Lady 1**, but from my field spell as well, making it 1500, and my Harpie Lady 1800. Time to say bye bye to some of your life points water boy!" Both of her monsters took flight and made their way to Aqua, literally ripping right through him, or in the case of her Gusto monster, diving through the man, before finding their way back to her. She grinned at his life point counter, showing that he was now at 4700, before ending her turn.

"Grrr, you'll regret doing that you slut! My move!" Aqua drew his card and slapped it on his duel disk. Whatever it was, it was in the spell & trap zone, which was going to blast its load in three, two, one... "I activate **Different Dimension Deepsea Trench**! This forces me to banish one Water monster in my hand, grave, or on my side of the field, and I pick **Flyfang** in my hand!" The card in his hand was suddenly enveloped in a bright blue light, forcing him to put it in the banished zone on his duel disk, though he didn't seem to care. "Now it is time to bring out a big player in my deck, my **Spearfish Soldier** (1700/1100), who has quite a useful effect!" The man-spear monster had light blue skin, had a long spear-like head piece on top of its head, as well as held two long purple spiral seashells, which were quite pointy and dangerous looking, though it clashed with his yellow sea armor. He suddenly grew a bit muscular, causing her to look at it in wonder. "Like how he looks doll face? He gains 100 attack for each of my banished Fish, Sea Serpent, and Aqua monsters. Oh, and thanks to your Harpie Lady's effect, he also gains 300 attack, making him a whopping 2100!"

"Hahaha, fuck your fucking monster fuck face! I activate **Book of Moon**, forcing it to facedown defense position as of now!" She declared, activating her quick play card before he could do anything else. The anger on his face was well worth the card she used, though she now had to wonder if having **Harpie Lady 1** was worth keeping at the moment.

"Just go you cunt bag!" She couldn't help herself but to wink at him and smiled.

"Oh, don't call me names just because you can't handle all this water boy. My turn, and I activate **One Day of Peace**! Each of us draw a card, but each of us don't take battle damage until the end of the opponent's next turn!"

"Wait, how will that work in this situation?" The underling asked, unknowingly surprising her. She figured he would know, considering he seemed much more intelligent than his boss when it came to dueling. She grinned and pointed at him.

"Well, when your turn ends, it makes you open for damage, but until your boss takes his turn and ends it he can't be damaged, which I think he enjoys. Now then, lets draw!" They each drew their cards, allowing her to develop a good size grin upon her already smiling self. Now things were starting to look her way for a change! "I activate **Swords of Revealing Light**, forcing you two to flip your monsters as of now!" Underling had **Hedge Guard** (2100), a fairly decent sized bush that was made of bamboo shoots, though she knew what Aqua had facedown. With that said, she set a card down and pointed at Aqua. "I'll send my **Harpie Lady 1** to destroy your **Spearfish Soldier** and end my turn, unless you can do something water boy." Without any sort of action, other than him sending the card to the graveyard, she ended her turn.

"Draw." The man's Underling stated. "I normal summon my **Botanical Lion** (1600/2000) and set one card before ending my turn. Also," The rose mane that surrounded the Plant lion's head grew in size, "for every Plant type monster I control, my lion gains 300 attack, putting him at 1900 at the moment."

"_Oh~,_ I am starting to like the way you play big boy. My move!"

"I activate **Dust Tornado**, not only destroying your Swords, but allowing me to set a card as well." She frowned before sending her stall card to the grave, and watched as she now had to worry about yet another card the Underling had. Either way, the card she drew would help her out quite nicely at this moment, as well as get rid of a card on the field.

"Welcome my second **Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon** (1200/600)to the field everyone!" The second Dragon appeared beside the Harpie Lady, allowing her to hold its chain so she could guide it. Despite watching its attack points grow to 1700 thanks to her two Harpie cards, she knew it wouldn't stay on the field for long. "I then overlay my two **Harpie Pet Baby Dragons** in order to Xyz summon **Number 50: Blackship of Corn** (2100/1500)!" It was odd for her to see some light shine in the Underling's eyes, making her wonder if he was going to develop a boner at the sight of the ship made of corn. Still, it mattered to her not, as she jumped onto the deck of the ship and pointed at the **Botanical Lion** he controlled. "I activate its effect! By detaching a material, I can destroy a monster with equal or less than the attack of my monster, and I pick your precious lion. Release the load of my ship onto that monster Blackship!" A large kernel of corn shot at the lion, destroying it, as well as making the man's life points deplete by 1000.

"W-what?" He asked, causing her to point to her ship.

"When I activate this effect, in exchange for it not being able to attack for this turn, it deals to you 1000 points of damage, putting you at 7000. But don't worry, your little hedge protects you, so I'll attack your boss instead with my **Harpie Lady 1** and my **Gusto Codor**!"

"I activate Call of the Haunted!" Aqua shouted, making a grave appear on the field. As soon as it appeared, his **Spearfish Soldier** (1700/1100) returned to the field with its additional bonus to boot (2100). "You sure you want to attack me now doll face?"

"Whatever one inch. I end my turn."

"On-On-One Inch!" The man glared and flipped her off before drawing his card. "I am NOT one inch! I have the biggest dick in the city! I play **Contact with the Aqua Mirror**, allowing me to either rearrange any player's two cards in any order, or to look at your set spell and trap cards. I pick to rearrange your top two cards!" As if by magic, her duel disk swapped the two cards, forcing her to wonder if it was for the better or the worst. Since he activated another card, she considered it was the worst. "I now activate **Aqua Jet**, powering my Soldier by 1000 points, making him 3100, more than enough to destroy your stupid ship. Sink it to the bottom of my territory my Soldier!" She was only lucky that she lost only 1000 points, considering he could have went for her **Gusto Codor**, which would have made her lose 1600 points, or her Harpie Lady, which would take out 1300. "How does THAT feel you slut? Ya know what? Don't bother, for I'm ending my turn."

"I take it your **Aqua Jet** only lasts until the end phase of your turn?" Not even waiting for him to answer the question, she drew her card. Now she knew that her deck was now working out the way she wanted it to. Take that you pathetic use of a mirror! "I normal summon **Harpie Lady 3** (1300/1400), which triggers my field spell's first effect, which allows me to destroy a spell or trap card on the field! Hm, decisions decisions... I know! I'll fuck with you Underling!" A small tornado appeared on top of his card, revealing it to be a **Call of the Haunted** before it was destroyed. She didn't care for the look he wore, but pointed at Aqua and flipped him off. "Let me show you as to why to not mess with Panty Anarchy motherfucker!" She slid her two Harpie Ladies together, preparing for a Xyz summon. "I now overlay my two lovely Harpies to Xyz summon **Maestroke the Symphony Djinn** (1800/2300)!"

"No!" Aqua shouted as her blue and red-haired beauties became a tall, handsome man who not only looked professional for his job, but was hot too! Now if only guys like him actually existed, then she could blow his brains out with her pussy!

"I detach a material to activate its effect, putting your water toy in face down defense position, and attack it with my Maestroke!" A whirlwind of music notes collided into the facedown card, forcing it to explode into pixels. Before the pixels were fully done disappearing, her Gusto monster flew through Aqua, making him lose 1200 life points, which placed him at 3500. "Oh, and I hope you don't mind me attacking with my other monster too, do you? I shall now end my turn. Better pick it up boys, or else I'll lose interests in you two!"

"My turn." The Underling declared before drawing. "I set one monster before ending my turn."

"Yawn." Panty pretended to yawn, irking Aqua a bit, much to her amusement. "Something like that will do you no good. I draw, switch my Gusto monster to defense mode, and attack your new facedown with my Maestroke!"

"You've attacked my **Sangan** (600), which allows me to look for a monster with 1500 or less attack, show it to you, and add it to my hand before shuffling." The card he picked was** Rose Fairy** (600/1200) a cute, adorable practically naked monster with red hair in the shape of a rose, red eyes, and four wings. Was he a romantic at heart with so many roses on his monsters? "Since she was added to my hand by a monster effect, I can special summon her in defense mode. It is still your turn."

"You're nearly as boring as a Librarian, have you been told that? I end my turn by setting a card."

"Draw, set, and end my turn." Aqua quickly said, making the glare in his eyes intensify. Panty didn't care though, and flipped the card she just set down.

"I activate **Spiritual Wind Art - Miyabi**! By tributing my **Gusto Codor**, I can send your **Hedge Guard** to the bottom of your deck Underling!" A small burst of wind forced the card back to its owner's deck, making the man actually develop a frown for a change, not that she gave a fuck to be honest. She was going to win, but it was taking her much longer than she thought. "I draw, set a monster, and attack your Fairy with Maestroke before ending my turn."

"Draw." Despite the open field, the Underling responded calmly to it and drew without a care in the world. He slipped the card he drew onto his field and pointed at it. "I normal summon my **Naturia Strawberry** (1600/1200), and end my turn." She wondered why he didn't attack her facedown monster, considering she knew it would have been easily destroyed by that juicy fruit. Then again, he didn't know what the card was, and she didn't activate her other set card at all.

"You should take a few more risks Underling, and enjoy a trip to the wild side of life. My draw though," Panty drew a useless card, but didn't care at the sight of it, "and I flip summon my **T.G. Catapult Dragon** (1300), normal summon my **Influence Dragon** (300/900), and send the two to the graveyard in order to Synchro summon my level 5 **Vortex the Whirlwind** (2100/700) in attack mode!" Oh how she fucking loved female monsters in this card game! Most of them were busty as fuck, mysterious, and had style like her and her personality!

"I activate my **Naturia Strawberry's** effect, allowing it to gain 100 attack points times the number of stars your Vortex has, which is 500 points." His little monster suddenly developed thicker vines to match its newfound strength (2100). Despite the new development, it did nothing to limit her plays.

"Sorry, but that isn't good enough. I use Maestroke's effect, detaching its final material to make your Naturia go facedown, and attack it with my Fiend. With it now gone, I'll send Vortex to attack directly with her Kunai Whirlwind! Oh, and thanks to my field spell, she is now 2300 too!" Her monster took to the sky, sending a flurry of chained kunai at Underling and proceeded to spin them around his body, making him yell in phantom pain before his life points were depleted to 4700. With his field clear, she placed her Maestroke to defense position (2300), as well as set her useless card before ending her turn.

"Draw!" Despite how close Aqua was to losing, he sure had enough spirit and energy to keep on going. Whatever the card he drew was, it made him smile and flip his monster card, revealing it to be **Skull Kraken** (600/1600) and set a card before ending his turn. Whatever the set card was, he was willing to use his monster as bait, which meant that she had to most likely sacrifice her Maestroke in order to spring thr trap.

"Aww, I didn't know you liked tentacle porn Aqua. It would explain SO much! My turn boys!" She drew her card, a card that made her grin, and activated her first set card. "I activate the trap card **Revival Gift**! In exchange for being able to special summon a Tuner monster from my graveyard to my field, I must give two **Gift Fiend Tokens** (Lvl 3: 1500/1500) to one of you two, and I pick Underling." As soon as she stopped talking, two ink monsters with soulless blue eyes that reminded her of a frog appeared on the Underling's field, looking around as if they walking into unfamiliar territory. "I now special summon my **Influence Dragon** (300/900), normal summon my **Harpie Lady 3** (1300/1400), use my field spell's effect to destroy your face down water boy, and tune them together in order to Synchro summon my level 7 **Dragunity Knight - Trident** (2400/1700) in attack mode!"

"No fucking way!" Aqua screamed, looking at the new Synchro monster on her side of the field. Despite its original card art, the Dragunity warrior that was to ride on the blue dragon's back was now replaced by **Harpie Lady 3**, though it wore the warrior's armor. She wished she still had her **Harpie Lady 1** on the field, as she could have increased her Wind monster's attack points even higher, but she had to settle for its 2400.

"You ready to repent motherfucker? I hope so, because that is all you'll be able to do when I am done with you!" The dragon on her Dragunity monster roared, though Vortex brought out the large bastard sword it had on her back and slammed it to the ground as her own way of showing how happy she was about the thought of battle. Again, she LOVED that card! Xyz monsters were nice, but she felt a better connection to her Synchro monsters, especially the Wind types, which was why she was more than happy to do this. "I now return my Maestroke to attack mode (1800), and send it to attack your **Skull Kraken**, destroying it!"

"No!" 1200 points of damage later, and Aqua now had 2300 life points, the exact amount that Vortex the Whirlwind oh so ironically had! She smirked as she pointed at him and moved her finger across her throat.

"Send him flying back to his fishes Vortex! Trident, take out one of those tokens!" It was fucking hilarious to see Aqua gasp like a fish out of water when her monster drove the bastard sword into him, forcing him unconscious, as well as ending the game for him. Underling, on the other hand, looked at the lone token he now had and waited on her. Did he still have a move he could perform on her? She hoped so, as she was getting herself excited by her own moves, rather than anything from these two losers. "Oh, in case you can't tell, I end my turn."

"I draw," The Underling stated, "and activate **Painful Return**. This card forces you to pick a monster in my graveyard and add it to my hand at the end of my turn. I then set a monster in defense mode before ending my turn." She picked **Rose Fairy**, since she knew that you can't use tokens as a material for a Xyz monster, and proceeded with her turn.

"I set one before attacking your token with Maestroke, your facedown monster with Vortex, and-"

"By destroying **Mystic Tomato**, you cause its effect to activate, allowing my to special summon a Dark monster with 1500 or less attack in face-up attack mode. I pick **Grave Squirmer** (0/0)." Since she used her **Dragunity Knight - Trident** to attack last, she was forced to watch as it destroyed the mummy-man, only to be dragged down to the grave with it. Luckily, her Harpie Lady unique monster's sacrifice wasn't in vain, as it also did 2400 points of damage, putting him at 2300. "I end my turn."

"Good, I draw." One card later, he set a monster and a facedown before ending his turn. She grinned and drew her card, happy to see that it was a **Sangan** of her own, not that she needed it anymore.

"I attack your facedown-"

"I activate my trap card known as **Dark Spirit of the Silent**. It negates the attack of your Maestroke and forces it to attack Vortex, destroying itself, as well as making you take damage."

"What a dick move! Fuck!" Panty called out before watching as her Maestroke poked her **Vortex the Whirlwind**, who responded by shoving its kunai through its throat, destroying it instantly. despite the 500 points of damage she took, she was more focused on defeating her opponent as soon as possible, even if she had 6500 life points. "I attack your facedown, set a monster, and end my turn."

"Thank you. I draw, set a monster, and end my turn."

"Stop being so boring! Dueling you is like watching fucking grass grow in the rain forest! I draw, normal summon **Harpie Lady 2** (1300/1400), and attack your facedown with Vortex!"

"You've attacked my second **Mystic Tomato**, allowing me to special summon my **Chaos Necromancer** (0/0) in attack mode. His effect activates, giving him 300 attack points for every monster in my graveyard. I count seven, which gives him 2100 attack points, more than enough to deal with your new Harpie." Her short, orange haired Harpie wouldn't survive against such a monster, causing her to end her turn. As long as the Underling didn't touch her set cards in the spell & trap card zone, she would be fine and win this duel. With nothing else to do, she ended her turn, hoping that he would take the bait.

"I draw, set a card, normal summon my **Pinecono** (400/200), and sent it to attack your Harpie Lady 2."

_'Shit, its a suicide attack, and I can't fucking do anything to stop it!'_ If she used her **Sakuretsu Armor**, it would still give his **Chaos Necromancer** the attack increase, though the downside to it would be that he wouldn't take any life point damage like he is now. With him being at 1200, just about any of her monsters would be able to take him out, but the only issue was that she had to pray that she drew **Harpie Lady 1**, which would boost her monsters high enough to not worry about the ugly piece of shit of a card before her. "You end Underling?"

"Yes."

"Straight to the point I see. My draw." One card later, she set it, placed her **Harpie Lady 2** in defense mode (1400), and ended her turn. At least this card would give her a plus, as long as he didn't destroy her backrow of cards of course.

"I activate **Dust Tornado**, destroying the card in the middle." FUCK! There went her **Sakuretsu Armor**! "I draw, set a monster, and end my turn."

"Draw." Oh how she fucking hated stalemates, as they dragged things to the point where she didn't care anymore. "I activate **Field Barrier**, preventing it from being destroyed, and end my turn."

"My turn. I activate **Nightmare's Steelcage**, preventing either of us from attacking for two turns." A metal cage with spikes appeared around them. Not that it bothered Panty or anything, but she wanted this duel to end ages ago! She wanted to work on her deck with their cards, dammit! "I end my turn."

"Final-fucking-ly! My draw!" YES! Her saving grace was here! "I set a card and end my turn."

"Draw, turn 1 of my cage is gone, and I set another card down before ending my turn."

"My turn, and I activate my second copy of **Spiritual Wind Art - Miyabi**! By sacrificing **Harpie Lady 2**, your **Chaos Necromancer** is now fucking out of here!" Well, it was sent back to the bottom of the deck, but she didn't give a shit about specifics at this point! "I normal summon a **Gusto Codor** (1000/400) and end my turn!"

"Draw, my cage is destroyed." Thank sex for that! "I set a monster and end my turn."

"Your wall of monsters won't save you forever. I draw, normal summon my second **Influence Dragon** (300/900), and send it and **Gusto Codor** to Synchro summon my level 6 **Daigusto Sphreez** (2000/1300) in attack mode!" A short green haired girl with firey orange tips appeared with a unique staff that channeled the wind around her priestess body. She looked through her graveyard and plucked her **Gusto Codor** from it and added it to her hand. "When she is Synchro summoned, I can add a Gusto monster from my graveyard to my hand. I then flip my **Sangan** to attack mode (1000/600), and attack with the three!" Each of Underling's monsters were destroyed, revealing a **Hedge Guard** (2100), Acorno (400), and **Pinecono** (200). "I end my turn, and I hope it is the end for you next turn!"

"I draw," Underling began, only to place the card on his deck, "and I concede victory to you. Here are my cards, and give me a moment to get you Aqua's deck as well."

_'Wow,'_ Panty thought, _'I thought he was going to run off with his boss and forget the ante I placed. Great though!'_ She did feel bad for Underling though, and waited for him to hand her Aqua's stuff. When he did, she quickly placed his deck in her purse and ignored the Underling's stuff. Noticing he was looking at her oddly, she pointed at the girl on the ground. "I don't like Plant types. They're too girly for me, so just give me your C-Ring and we'll call it even."

"T-Thank you." The man said as he handed her not only his C-Ring, but Aqua's as well, before carrying the unconscious man and leaving the alley. With new cards and seven total C-Rings in hand, she walked over to Sal and picked up the two cards that the entire duel was fought over. While she didn't really care for **Ancient Fairy Dragon**, she liked that she could use it to destroy one copy of her field spell even if she didn't had the second one in hand, gain 1000 life points, and activate the second one by searching it from her deck. **Stardust Dragon**, on the other hand, was a Synchro monster she had her eye on since she saw Geek Boy use it not too long ago, and felt something in her heart call out for it when she looked at the artwork. With a sigh, she looked at the unconscious girl and picked up the girl's cell phone, taking two picture of her and the bench out in the open, acting as a clue for her sister and lover to find their friend, before sending the pictures to her.

"Sorry, but these would work so much better in my deck than that piece of shit deck you use." With that, she slipped both cards into her extra deck and walked out of the alley, placing the cell phone on the garbage can lid in the process.

-Author's Note-

Damnit! I was hoping to have this written and published before New Years Day, but it is 11:49 P.M. (central time) for me, which means this will be out around 12:30 A.M. after all of the edits I will do to this chapter. Either way, I do hope everyone enjoyed the double duel in this chapter! Consider this my New Year gift for all of my readers, as well as Panty's first duel in the story. She can be my Mai Valentine any day of the week!

Have a fantastic New Year everyone!


	12. Arc 2: Gathering Information and Dreams

"So, I take it that **Stardust Dragon** was your first Yu-Gi-Oh card right?"

"...Huh?" Brief was currently looking through the deck that Stocking spent the past half hour building. The "Xyz" deck was everything that his Synchro deck wasn't, which had its own benefits and drawbacks. Whereas his previous deck was fast and hit hard, this one stalled and made the opponent either play by the deck's pace, or it waited for a chance to perform a gift exchange and poison the opponent for the rest of the game. It wasn't as if the deck was bad, but it felt cold, heartless, and overall simply foreign. If he had to explain it better, in the first Final Fantasy game he played on the Gameboy Advance's double edition, he would always name himself as the Warrior rather than give his name to any of the other classes. Warriors were up front and personal, not caring so much for underhanded tactics and simply fought until their opponent died. They enjoyed the battle, much more than any of the other classes.

Well, the Monks could fall under that category as well, but he (like everyone else) didn't care to play him.

White Mages were healers, which was the support deck style that he knew he could never play, especially since support decks were used for tag team duels. Red Mages, the class that could use swords and staffs for magic, would be the jack of all trades deck, something that was similar to this deck, but wasn't the right term for it. An R.M., short for Red Mage, deck would be something that toyed with the opponent, allowing the duel to progress until the user got bored and simply used a "spell" to end the game in one shot, effectively killing the fun of the duel.

Thieves, or the card jacking decks, were one of two decks that he hated most of all. These types of decks are fairly easy to understand, as they either swap or abuse your opponent's cards for the user's benefit, milking them for whatever need they had to complete before discarding it for another card on the field. While the new deck felt similar to this, at least the range of a game with this deck would take a long time to lose or to get over the deck and beat it. This deck, the one Stocking built for him, felt like the one class he disliked most of all.

The Black Mage.

Despite how good Black Mages are in the Final Fantasy game, they truly were nothing more than big, flashy one trick ponies that, once they were depleted of their mana, were next to useless. Sure, the White Mage was useless without mana too, but at least they healed, revived, removed ailments, and usually leveled up quickly, but the Black Mage was another story. As for their deck, the easiest comparison are the top tier decks that currently exist in the meta of Yu-Gi-Oh dueling. They have the flash effects, the one trick cards to burn their opponent, and then they bring out everything they need in a matter of turns, sometimes even in the first turn. These decks are simply no fun to play against, no fun in even using, and worst of all, are simply used because _someone else _used and won with it.

Despite the last reason, this deck felt like a Black Mage deck to him, and he hated the feeling considering how much thought and time his friend put into it. Hell, he wasn't even considering the factor that she just bought cards for this deck to boot, which practically screamed to him that he would have to keep the deck as is! Oh why was he so kind to his friends?

"I was asking if **Stardust Dragon** was your first Yu-Gi-Oh card. You know, like picking up a Stardust tin and getting into the game?" He replayed the question in his head, slowly closing his eyes to allow the memories of his childhood to flow through his brain, displaying everything once again. The smiles he showed, paired by the laughs he released, complimented by the hugs they shared with the warm feeling that came with it, but the lonely aftermath and tears ruined everything to an extent. It wasn't something he enjoyed talking about, but it wasn't anything he was ashamed of talking about, was it?

"No, my first cards were the cards my father started out with during his teenage years." Brief replied, silently noticing an odd look on Stocking's face. Maybe she was picturing his father taking the chunky form of the average adult nerd by chance? To be honest, he didn't care what others thought his father was like, considering they weren't the ones who actually met him, but he was happy that they wouldn't get to see him, let alone hear and live with him. Only certain people could contend with his father, may it be during a game or by simply talking with him, and he was one of those few that didn't bend over when words were spoken.

"Oh really? How did you get into it before he gave you the cards?" He turned away and looked at the ground, a small blush forming on his face. He mumbled the event, hoping that Stocking wouldn't ask him again, or if she heard him and would drop it. Sadly, that was not the case. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. Speak up Brief."

"I stole my first pack from the store after watching an episode of Yu-Gi-Oh Gx." An awkward silence formed between the two duelists, causing him to wonder if she was going to drop the subject, only to hear her giggle and ran her hand through his hair.

"Aww, who knew there would be a little bad in Brief-kun?" Stocking taunted, playfully curling a lock of his hair by her finger. He shook his head, moving away from the finger in the process, and looked at the remainder of his deck. She did ask for how he got into the game right? So he had to finish his little story.

"I didn't mean to! I was six at the time!" Brief replied, finally turning back to see Stocking looking at him with a small frown on her face. Did he upset her by pulling away? "He still bought me the pack, telling me to open it so I can see what a waste the game was, only for me to pull out a number of super rare cards, **Yubel** was in there too, and that made my father change his opinion of the game. He used to be a top player during his upper teen years, winning a few tournaments around his mid twenties before being forced to take control of the Rock family business, which forced him to give up the game, as much as he didn't want to.

"After he saw me pull those super rare cardsin a single pack he went back into the store and bought a handful of special editions boxes and random booster packs, asking me to open the ones that I felt were "different" from the rest. I didn't know what he meant at the time, but I didn't want to upset my father at the same time, so I did what he asked, opening the booster packs that felt brighter, calling to me if you will, and out of each pack was either a super, ultra, or secret rare card just waiting for me. It was after that day that my father showed me all of his cards, a full set of each card from every pack to exist during his years of dueling, and gave them to me for my own use, only to promise that not only would I continue the tradition of collecting every card, but to hone on my gift of pack pulling."

"So that was how you found Stardust then? By pulling it from a pack at random?"

"No," he replied, "he has a tale of his own." Brief pulled out one of his Xyz monsters, his **Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis**, and placed it in front of her. He could already hear its mighty roar in his mind, moving as if wanting to be played and free to do whatever it wished, and smiled at it. "My father, after he heard of the Synchro monster type, told me that I had to prepare for duel against him, as he wanted to see just how I could use these never before seen cards against him. It wasn't hard for him to preorder a full case of The Dueling Genesis, considering who he is and the power he holds, and we customized our decks for these new cards. Tuner monsters and the sudden Tuner support cards were still a foreign concept for me, but out of all the cards in the boxes we used, I only picked one Synchro monster, **Stardust Dragon**, as it felt so alive in my hand.

"I still lost against him, truly showing me that he didn't lose his edge in dueling, but it was a close duel, each of us only having one hundred life points to prevent our defeat at the other's hand, but it was a good duel. So that is why Stardust Dragon is special for me. He is what truly made me understand my father's words of finding the cards right for me, as I've improved by leaps and bounds ever since I've been using him in my decks, and I wouldn't want to lose the card that started it all." Stocking looked rather sad, possibly at the thought of Sal never finding the card in the first place, but was there a tear forming in her eye? He was further surprised when he felt her hand lay on top of his, clutching it without hesitation, which made him blush more than he wanted to.

"That...was such an emotional story Brief. I would have never expected to hear such a thing from a nerd and about dueling." Despite the lack of word choice, he understood what she meant. "But why did you pull out your Hieratic monster then, considering I was asking you about Stardust." Brief handed her the card in question, cautiously watching as it seemed to release a new sensation from itself onto her. He couldn't tell if it was angry or simply upset at it being out of his hands, but he could tell that it was still alright by being close to him. "What..."

"I take it you felt a negative burst of emotion suddenly hit you without warning?" Seeing the Angel widen her eyes at his question was more than enough proof that she did suffer from that particular action. Now, how to explain this without her wanting to quit the game? "That, in your hand, is my True Card."

"True Card?"

"Yes," He started off, "as I don't know what else to call this particular type of card. These cards have a soul that allows them to react much more than other cards. By using the same cards for years, one's cards can develop their own souls and become True Cards themselves, but I've rarely came across anyone who has a True Card from this manner. I've also considered that cards from Daten City can only become True Cards due to the constant Holy, Demonic, and Ghost energies that pour into this city, acting as a sort of conductor for the cards to develop a soul and mind, but I don't have any way to prove this." Stocking quickly handed him back his card, pulling out her own deck and nearly shoved **Darkness Neosphere** into his face. Why was she doing this to him? Unless...

"If that is the case, then why do you have two Hieratic Sun Dragons?"

"Huh?"

"If you are saying..." Stocking smiled at her card, causing him to wonder as to what she was trying to get at. She returned her attention to him and placed the card up to her chest. "That cards can either have their own soul or develop their own, then why are there multiple cards? There should be another **Darkness Neosphere** somewhere in the world, yet there is only one copy of this card to exist, something that shouldn't be possible by any standard." She did have a point, Brief considered, as something like her situation would only be a True Card, and he had to consider that it had a soul too, since she neither stated or denied it having one.

"I don't know what to tell you." Brief put his monster back to the extra deck of his deck and sighed, knowing that the conversation was going to become more serious than he wanted it to be. Why did everything he believe in have to cause people to get negative and offended? It was then that he noticed the clock hanging from one of the walls in the cafe and realized that Sal had been gone for a bit over an hour trying to find his card. Just where could that strange wind have taken his card? It was ironic, a strange wind taking a special Wind attribute Synchro monster away from him, but he still had no understanding as to why such a thing happened, though he could always place the cause on a Yu-Gi-Oh related Ghost. "So, what do you want-"

"Ah, Briefers and Stocking, what an unexpected surprise." A voice interjected itself into their conversation, making him pause and turn to the owner of the voice. He didn't know if he should have been surprised to see Scanty standing right behind him or not, but he noticed that Kneesocks was looking at him with a bit of a stone-like expression on her face. Was she upset at something, or did she not like either of the two? "I take it you're in this tournament?"

"Yes, we are. Seeing as you don't have a duel disk, I take it neither of you are participating in this tournament?" Brief was sure that the question was mostly rhetorical, but to his surprise Scanty shook her head at the question.

"My sister and I didn't want just any old duel disk. So, we're getting ours personally customized to better suit our personal styles. We've learned enough about the game to know what to expect, and our decks are one of the best, if not the best in this tournament to take us to the top."

"Is that a fact?" Stocking placed her deck on the table, separating the extra deck cards to the edge of the table with a challenging look in her eye. Was she about to ask what he thought she was? "Why don't we have a quick duel and see if that is true or not? I won't ask for a C-Ring or any sort of prize either."

"No thanks." Wait, what? Scanty refusing a challenge from one of the Anarchy sisters? That was unheard of, especially considering what happened when the four girls first met at Daten High, and the beach incident...

_'Get your mind out of the gutter Briefers!'_ He told himself, knowing full well that picturing the four girls in his head in their bikini wear wasn't the right thoughts to be thinking at the moment.

"Considering that your first opponent killed himself minutes after being defeated by you, I don't want to possibly get sudden urges of killing myself." Scanty's statement not only confused him, but worried Brief at the same time. Why did Stocking's opponent kill himself? Stocking was already asking plenty of questions about the guy before Brief could even get a breath in, which suited him just fine. He hated being the center of attention, as it prevented him from thinking clearly about the situation, though he could already tell that there were major pieces of the story that would prevent him from understanding why the guy killed himself.

"Steven Miclair, age: twenty three. Gender: male, and born in Daten City. His two sisters, Alice and Dreana, were killed about a week ago by oncoming traffic while chasing after an unknown female duelist who is known as the "Fiend Ruler". Due to the lack of information about this particular duelist, many have claimed that the two children simply were products of misfortune, though few have said that they killed themselves due to severe mistreatment at home, but many have shunned those who stated such things." Kneesocks explained, looking off the I-Phone she suddenly had in her hand. When she pulled it out, he didn't know, but he listened to what she had to say. "Witnesses at the scene said that, after your duel, that he couldn't handle it anymore and got on his knees in agony. A priest happened to walk by and got the man to pray, but walked away soon after that, most likely due to him being forced away from Steven."

"It was only thanks to a passing couple noticing that he held a gun in his hand that anyone investigated the scene. Rather than finding someone who was thinking of killing himself, they found a corpse with a special band-aid to soak up the blood and not spill it on the ground, a useful tool if I say so myself." Scanty finished her sister off, allowing a short pause to settle in before continuing. "Considering how many people passed by him and even bent down to see if he was alright, considering the footage we were showed, there is no way to truly get a timeframe of when the suicide or murder happened."

"Wait," Brief interrupted, "how were you shown high class security footage of the scene?" He could picture Kneesocks being a hacker, but a case like this wouldn't interest them in the slightest. Well, it wouldn't unless their father wanted to get the information and try to pinpoint the criminal before anyone else died by the criminal. Both of the Akuma sisters smirked at his question.

"There are perks for being a daughter of the mayor." Scanty replied, taking a sip of Brief's milkshake, which caused Stocking to glare in the process. As if to make her even more angry, the Demon took a small piece of his strawberry shortcake and ate it, smiling at the sweetness before sitting in the chair across from them. "You have good taste Briefers."

"So what do you want then?" Stocking asked.

"Nothing," Kneesocks replied, "other than to inform you that you may not be able to get dueled so easily due to this case. Anyone who watched your first duel, as well as those who know of your duel at the Card Buffet know that you play Fiends, so people will either stay away from you during this tournament in order to save themselves, or they'll come up to you wanting to avenge the deaths of three people." Brief stayed silent, as it looked as if Stocking was about to say something; however, she paused, looking at her purse before pulling out her cell phone. Maybe Garterbelt was calling her about a Ghost sighting somewhere in the city? That idea was quickly scrapped when he realized that the look on her face suddenly changed to a horrified expression, causing him to get up and look over her shoulder at the phone. He was rewarded with a picture of Sal, unconscious and slightly bleeding, laying in a dark, dirty looking alley somewhere in the city. By the time that Stocking noticed that their friend was in need of aid, he already had their things bagged and ready to hunt for the girl.

"We got to go. See you later Akuma sisters!" Was all Brief said as he grabbed Stocking by one of her hands and ran, unknowingly leaving the two Demon sisters with the bill. That didn't matter to him though, as he brought out his phone and looked at the picture on Stocking's own, hoping for some type of clue as to where their friend could be. Despite how much he wanted to blame himself for putting her in harm's way, he knew that putting himself down would do nothing to find Sal.

"Do you know where we're going?" That caused him to stop, take a breath and looked at Stocking's worried expression. Of course he didn't know where Sal could be, but he was taking them to the path that they both witnessed Sal take before they went into the indoor cafe, which was as much of a lead as they had at the moment.

"No, but this was the way Sal went. Is there any text message attached to the picture?" Stocking looked back to her phone, slowly nodding in the process and showed him the second picture. It was that of a bench, perfectly angled so no store sign of any kind could be seen, which made things troublesome. He noticed that there was half of a street sign though, ending in "roe", which would mow down the number of alleys they would have to look through to find their friend. "One second...Got it!" Brief exclaimed and brought up his phone for Stocking to see.

"2345 Monroe Avenue? That has to be at least half an hour's run from the cafe, and that is if we cut through some alleys. Sal didn't cut through any alleys when we last saw her, so why..." Stocking paused, looking at the sky for a moment before shaking her head. Did a thought come to mind, he wondered, but didn't ask anything. "It doesn't matter. Are you ready for a light jog Brief?"

"More than ready Stocking-chan."

* * *

She didn't know where she was at first, as darkness swallowed her whole, but it seemed as if the darkness was receding from the sudden light that began to shine upon her. By the time she could fully see her entire body, the only form of darkness she could see was the shadow that hid behind her. How she returned to the Card Buffet, she didn't know, but she was happy to see Brief and Stocking playing a quick game on one of the tables inside the building. When she began to take several steps towards the two, she noticed that the gap between them and her, which was only a few steps, suddenly grew by miles, causing her to run towards them.

_'What is happening?'_ Was all she wondered as she tried to get closer to them, only to not make a dent in length. As she continued running towards them, she noticed that the floor she was running on, the light brown hue of the Card Buffet, changed into multi-colored tiles, each one being different in many complex color patterns she couldn't understand. She, during her focusing of the floor, lost her balance and fell, falling face first onto the floor. "Oww..." She sat up, widening her eyes as she realized that the floor wasn't actually tile, but was something else.

Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

But not just any Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Her own collection of cards, separated without a care in the world, harmfully being stomped on. She stood up, honestly trying to not ruin the cards below her feet, but it seemed as if she made things even worse, ripping them with a single step, or causing them to crumble into a fine, sandy powder without any reason of why. It was then that she realized that two shadows loomed over her, causing her to look upwards and saw a giant Stocking and Brief, each glaring at her with a mocking smirk upon their faces.

_"Oh look, our weak duelist friend."_ Brief spoke, his voice full of annoyance and pride. Stocking tapped her shoes, nearly causing Sal to fall to the ground in the process. Why was Brief, her oh so sweet friend, suddenly being so mean to her?

_"Ah, poor, pathetic Sal. How is your shit deck doing for you hm?"_ She kicked at the ground, sending many of her cards into the wind, some of them being ripped from the intense winds that sent them into the sky. This caused the girl to begin picking up her cards, only for them to start disappearing before she could reach them. Why? Why was this happening?

_"HAH! Your cards don't even want to be TOUCHED by you!"_ He laughed, causing her to grab her head and close her eyes. They couldn't be real, she summarized. These two weren't her friends! They were fakes made to taunt and hurt her confidence!

_"Its so amusing watching you duel."_ The fake Goth said, looking at fake Brief with amusement on her face. _"Considering how sad your deck is. Always with the Light types, but nothing with the DARKNESS!"_ It was then that the little island of cards that allowed to sit on level of the giant fake's feet disappeared, forcing her to fall into complete darkness. The few cards she did hold onto, Tethys, Tiras, and Utopia quickly disappeared, though not without hurting her by leaving several cuts on her hands.

**"The light...will always leave you when it must."** A cool, crisp voice whispered to her. She looked around, noticing a bright red flare glow at the bottom of the darkness. As she looked down, falling towards the light, a small seal began to form, create odd letters she had no chance of translating in this lifetime.

"The Light has never left me! It has always been in my soul, guiding me when it I needed it most!"

**"Friends...Don't care for others unless there is something needed from you."** By the time she got close enough, she realized that what was under the giant, unfamiliar seal were tombstones of different shapes and sizes, each having a similar seal on them.

"Yet my friends bring me with them and spend time with me!"

**"Out of pity and their own desire do they bring you along."** The voice replied, unknowingly cracking the seal below her feet. **"Out of pity does the light you so lovingly follow manipulate you, leaving you when you need it most, such as your duels against your so called friends, or against the man in the blue suit."**

"My friends-"

**"Where were your precious friends when you needed aid against the blue suited man?"** That caused Sal to pause, an image of the two sitting at the cafe appearing in her mind. Her sudden moment of silence was all the voice needed to continue on. **"Your light never gave you aid as the man's accomplice struck you in the back of the head, leaving you to rot on the ground of the alley without a care in the world. The light has millions of followers to care for, so what is one loss to it?"**

"The Light...The Light..." Sal mumbled, now noticing that the unknown seal was not only gray, but severely cracked all around. It was then that the seal finally broke, releasing a dark, mighty being that she was familiar with in sight. It picked her up, rather than grabbed her like she assumed, and brought her to its level of sight.

**"But darkness is always there for you."** It spoke, comforting her as if she was crying from a loss in the family. **"The darkness will never leave you...It will never purposely hurt you, but it will do as you wish it, as long as you are clear in your desires. The darkness..."**

"Sal!" A light suddenly focused itself onto her, blinding her of the deity before her, and caused her to quickly look up. There was no image of the person calling her name, but the voice was familiar. "SAL!" The light suddenly bloomed, erasing the previous scene and replaced it with a slow sketch of the alley she was knocked out in. As the sketch was slowly inked to life, she noticed her deck suddenly had a small, black flame within it, but dismissed it as the growing colors playing a trick on her mind.

**"...will always be inside you, waiting to be of aid."** And with that, Sal suddenly found herself awake with Stocking and Brief above her, each wearing a look of concern and worry upon their faces. While she was quite happy to see her friends helping her up and asking her what happened, she couldn't stop the looks the fake Stocking and Brief replacing their own, sometimes swapping their voices at the same time. The light, the precious light that kept her warm felt as if it was just baking her alive, a sensation she suddenly realized she couldn't ignore and did her best to hide the pain it now brought.

"Who did this to you?" Brief asked her. It was then that she realized that they were asking her as to how she was attacked, and that made her smile. They were concerned for her, not just for some stupid card. The sudden realization that she didn't have either of the cards made her frown, and she recalled the guy in blue and described him to them. As soon as she was done with her description he walked out of the alley, phone in hand dialing someone, though who she didn't know, and was soon forced out of the alley with Stocking by her side. As the trio walked down the street towards a clothing store where she could replace the dirty, stinking set she was currently wearing, a strange, foreign thought entered her mind.

Just how long was the light of this supposedly wonderful world waiting to hurt her?

* * *

**"I am extremely sorry to hear that happen to you Brief! The tracking system in all of the duel disks show that he is still at The Deep, a semi-popular bar. Are you sure that you want to go in there without any of my security guards Brief?"** Kona asked from the phone. Brief happened to know where that particular bar was, as it was one of the few places his father wanted to buy off the owner, tear it down, and rebuild it as another focal point for the main hub of the city to get into contact with a physical representative of the Foundation. He was there when the negotiations took place, and witnessed that the owner wanted to sell it, but feared the fallout he would have with the visitors of the bar.

In short, he didn't want to get killed by the gang members and criminals that called the place their home.

"I'll be fine Kona. I'm about a minute away from the place anyway." He heard the man swear from the other side of the phone, most likely due to not keeping an eye out for any other duelists near the place. Currently, Brief was in the bathroom of a male-suited clothing store, American Eagle or something, and ordered one of his father's men to bring him one of his white suits, the calling sign of a Rock family member. His hair was already brushed back, revealing his eyes to the world around him, and the frown on his face was one that promised that someone was going to lose badly. A three-knock pattern caught his attention, causing him to knock twice and waited.

**"Brief? You can't-"** Another series of knocks followed, which meant that his suit was now here.

"I'll call you when I am done Kona. Goodbye." The door to the bathroom was opened, revealing one of the Black Suits with a white suit in hand. He quickly thanked him before changing, taking note of the knife in the right sleeve as he put on his outfit. He walked out moments later, handing the Black Suit a bag filled with his previous clothes with a nod given his way.

_'Wait here until I return?'_ Was the unasked question the Black Suit asked. A single nod was given, the only answer he would get before Brief left the man's sight, leaving the store uncaring of the stares he was getting. The Deep was a good looking bar, considering it had to keep up appearances so it could look just as nice as the brand name stores surrounding it, which was why not many would question its location. Despite its good looks, he could easily smell the beer, cigarettes, and even a few traces of weed escape the dark tinted windows of the place, another factor that could mean the end for him if things didn't go his way. With a sigh, he walked into the bar, focusing on the man behind the counter when the door barely provided him a peek of the place. The man, a fairly aged balding man with a beer belly and wore a red stained shirt, widened his eyes at the sight of him, but Brief didn't care for the fear in the man's eyes.

"M-M-M-Mr. R-Rock! What can I d-do for you today?!" Brief was fortunate that Stocking was handling the shopping for Sal a few stores down, as he didn't want either of his friends to know of the truth of his family, the things he had to learn, or the true him. It wasn't long before he stood in front of the counter, his left hand barely touching the wooden counter, but their eyes met once more, allowing him to clearly see the fear in the man's eyes, as well as the reflection of every person looking right at him.

"Issac." Brief stated in a cold tone. He was a Rock, and no emotion could be shown other than what you wanted to be shown at face value. One of the many traditions and guidelines of the Rock family. "I've recently heard that a man who goes by Aqua recently came here. Care to tell me if this information is true?" Their eyes broke their connection for a slight moment, as Issac looked at the hallway to his left, one that was used for the high class customers of the bar if he remembered correctly. He nodded, pulling out his wallet and placed a single hundred-dollar bill on the slightly clean table, but in doing so forced their eyes to meet once more. "Is there anything else I should know about him?"

"H-He has a friend with him. Muscle, most likely, but could be someone of im-importance."

"Thank you." After giving the man another bill he walked towards the hall, only for him to lift his arm up and catch an open beer bottle. He was fortunate enough for his thumb to cover the opened top, but it did nothing to stop the sudden burst of anger that threatened to show up on his face. "Who threw this?" A single man stood up, instantly smirking despite the previous crowd of people separating from him. His long, shaggy black hair, matched with the dark rings below his eyes and the yellow stains upon his teeth showed that he loved his cigarettes, and possibly his crack too.

"I did you pansy ass pretty boy!" The man shouted, taking several steps towards him with a hand inching towards the back pocket. He knew what was going to happen, so there would be no need to truly fear the hidden action. "Who do you think you fucking are to demand information like a big shot huh?!"

"I take it you are new in town." Was all he said. This seemed to only piss off the man even more, making him pull out whatever he had in his back pocket. Before he could successfully pull it out though, Brief was already upon the man, jabbing the beer bottle through his mouth, knowingly breaking a few teeth along the way, and forced his head to the ground. _'A Rock never cares for the state of their shoes, as the dirtier they become simply shows how long a journey they've gone to get the things they've desired.'_ Another rule of the Rock family came to mind as he watched a mixture of beer, blood, and drool escape from the man's mouth, though he pulled out the man's gun, a semiautomatic pistol of some kind if he recalled correctly, and took it as his own. "Nice toy." He commented, bending down to put his mouth near the man's ear. "While you may be above the pathetic cops of this city, know that above you parasites of criminals are the Rock Foundation, and we will crumble anyone who dares to stand in our way."

"S-Stop it Mr. Rock!" Issac caught his attention, reminding him of his purpose for being here in the first place. He took a breath, standing up and nodded to the man before walking through the hallway where he noticed only one of the rooms were lit bright. He knocked on the door, waiting a moment so he could prepare himself in case someone went for the door and looked through the eyehole.

"Issac, dat you? Oh great, I need a good shot of vodka to get my mind out of the gutter!" Brief opened the door, his free hand barely touching the knife in his sleeve as he walked in. He was met by the sight of two guys, one of them being a blue haired man, whose hair looked borderline black when hit by shadow, wearing a blue suit with a shark tooth around his neck, and the other being a tall, muscular guy who looked as if he was smarter than the average criminal. The blue suited man widened his eyes and pointed at him. "W-Who the fuck are-"

"You're name is Aqua, right?"

"Whats it to ya?" The second guy turned his head and bowed a little, possibly as a sign of respect to him? It didn't matter to Brief, as he went for the other couch and sat down, looking straight at Aqua.

"I heard that you messed with one of my friends earlier. Black girl, silver dreds, was on the lookout for two cards that seemed to catch your eye. Ring any bells?"

"No, never met a dame like that." Aqua replied, still avoiding eye contact with him. Perhaps he heard of the tactics that members of the Rock Foundation have used before? He looked at the duel disk the man had, inspecting it to see if he had either of the two cards Sal had, his **Stardust Dragon** being one of them, only to see neither of their respective colored sleeves in the man's duel disk. The man's friend, despite being at an odd angle, didn't have either of the cards in his duel disk either, so was it possible that they sold the cards to some kid for some quick cash?

"Well, I know you two ran into her, and I know that you had the cards she found. So, as you can see, either she is lying, or it is you, and considering she is one of my friends, I'm more inclined to believe her story than yours."

"Those two cards-"

"Shut up Bruno!" Aqua shouted, causing Brief to curl an eyebrow at the sudden demand. So Bruno was willing to speak, but not Aqua? It was then that the man finally made eye contact with him, frowning at the same time. "I lost the cards okay? Now leave and don't bother me again!"

"Where did you lose them then?"

"I don't know!"

"Clearly you're lying, or else your friend wouldn't know where they are, now would he?" A threatening silence filled the room, putting the three on high alert for the other's actions. He considered putting more of a demand for answers, but he would have to have to channel _that_ through him, and that would spell nothing but disaster for the bar, which was something he wanted to avoid. It was then that he realized that the three had something in common, and would have to use it in order to get the information he needed. "Then all I can do is challenge you for a duel."

"A duel with you?" Aqua looked at his duel disk, suddenly smirking and brought his disk in front of him. Now there was an individual who would be easy to exploit and ruin, a trait that Brief was taught to look for in a person. The man turned on his duel disk, allowing it to shuffle his deck and pointed at him. "If I win, I get your C-Ring and your rarest cards. Sound fair?"

"For some information, hardly." Brief replied, turning on his own duel disk and shuffling the deck Stocking made for him. "But if you make things fair and throw in your C-Ring, then sure."

"Sure, not like you'll get it, baby boy of the Foundation. I'll start things off by activating **Umi**!" The room suddenly transformed into the ocean, allowing the three of them to be on small, miniature islands to keep them "alive". "I also normal summon my **Shocktopus** (1600/800) who gets a boost from my field spell, making him even stronger (1800/1000)!" The odd, half mechanical octopus appeared in front of the man, its long, black saw of a nose shining from the wave that struck its face. A card materialized behind it, causing Brief to wonder what kind of trap card was now waiting for him. "Your move minnow."

"Thanks, my draw." Before he actually drew, he took a second to review his new hand. He actually didn't look at them while he drew the cards, as he was focused on Aqua's first move, but now he wish he had. How was he supposed to use this deck again? His main goal was to... _'Ugh, I should have focused more on Stocking while she was explaining this deck to me.'_ "I normal summon **Trident Warrior** (1800/1200) and activate his effect, which allows me to special summon a level 3 monster from my hand to the field, and I pick **Sangan** (1000/600)." A well armored warrior whose armor reminded him of the cannons from a battle ship stabbed the ground, bringing out the small Fiend monster with three eyes right next to it. "I then play **Creature Swap**, forcing us to exchange monsters, but since you only have one, I get your **Shocktopus** while you get my **Sangan**."

"What?" The two monsters swapped places, allowing Brief to look through his extra deck and pulled out a staple in everyone's decks.

"I then overlay my two level 4 monsters to bring out **Number 39: Utopia**, (2500/2000) and attack my **Sangan**!" The Xyz monster made a motion to attack the brown fur ball, nearly cleaving it in two, only for a sudden wall of butterflies to block the attack, forcing the Utopia back in front of Brief and made it switch to defense position.

"Sorry minnow, but my **Butterflyoke **makes your monster go to Defense position, and it equips itself to it, giving me control of its battle position during either of our turns!" On the upside, Utopia still had its two materials, which allowed it to negate at least two attacks from Aqua's monsters, if he had any. With no spells or traps in hand, he was forced to end his turn, something that Aqua took much joy in. "My move, and I switch **Sangan** to defense mode before ending my turn with a facedown."

"Not much luck with your draw then? My turn then." Brief drew his card, knowing full well that he had to go on some form of offensive to get the extra card off his Sangan. He hoped that the set card wouldn't force whatever monster he summoned to get destroyed or removed from the game. "I normal summon **Mine Mole** (1000/1200) in attack mode." A small, tiny dark gray mole with a small hard hat similar to **Rescue Rabbits** appeared, wielding a pick axe with a small, pink flower on its nose. As cute as it was, it had a job to do. "I send it to attack **Sangan**." He grinned as the **Sangan** was destroyed, allowing him to get the benefits of its effect. "I activate **Sangan's** effect, allowing me to add **Marshmallon** to my hand and shuffle my deck. I'll ends things by setting a facedown."

"So you're running some kind of Chaos deck? Pathetic, I'm dueling a sperm of a fish! Let me show you what a true deck looks like! I draw and normal summon my **Genex Undine** (1200/600) and activate her ability!" An odd looking female-ish blue woman appeared, her body made of aquatic tubes and metal plates that made no sense to Brief at all. "By discarding a Water type monster from my deck to the graveyard, I can add one **Genex Controller** to my hand!" As he was given the monster, he sent a card he didn't recognize to the grave, though Brief knew that more was to come from this play. "I then play **Double Summon**, allowing me to normal summon the Genex **Controller** (1400/1200) I just added to my hand to the field, and I tune them together in order to Synchro summon my level 6 monster **Hydro Genex** (2300/1800) in attack mode!"

_'This isn't good.'_ Brief watched as the **Genex Undine** suddenly grew a bit taller, the small little robot that was the **Genex Controller** transformed into a pair of oversized purple mechanical hands, each connected to a teal colored sphere by the same rubber tubing that made up the Water monster. She suddenly had a spear-like rod in her hands as well, and he had a feeling that she was going to use it on his exposed monster the first chance she could get to it.

"I would attack, but I know you'd block the attack with your Utopia, so I end my turn."

"I draw," Brief held back a grin at the second trap card he drew, "set one card and normal summon **Gyroid** (1000/1000), overlaying it and **Mine Mole** to Xyz summon **Wind-Up Zenmaines **(1500/2100) in defense mode and end my turn!" After a quick afterthought, Brief bit his tongue in punishment, knowing that he should have summoned **Number 17: Leviathan Dragon** instead of going on the defense like this. Was it due to him using such an unfamiliar deck that he was acting odder than usual?

"A wall of defense won't save you forever minnow! I draw, set one monster, and end my turn."

"Not so predator-like are you. Maybe you're a herbivore rather than a carnivore like you portray yourself to be Aqua. Either way, my turn!" _'Monster Reborn is useful, as I can bring out my **Sangan**, suicide it for a search, or I can bring out one of his monsters, normal one of mine and Xyz summon something. My only problem is that my Rank 3 monsters are limited, and until I can bring out a third level 4 monster, all I can do is summon another Utopia.'_ Brief sighed, unsure of his actions for a few moments. After a moment of thinking he simply set the **Marshmallon** (500) facedown and ended his turn, hoping to deal some kind of damage to the man.

"My turn, and I normal summon my **Needle Sunfish** (1500/100), flip summon my **Skull Kraken **(600/1600), and overlay the two to Xyz summon **Number 17: Leviathan Dragon**!" A long, aquatic Dragon type monster with six wings appeared, looking angrily at Brief and snarled at him. Despite it not getting any boost from **Umi**, it still had a particular nasty ability that Brief didn't like at all when used against him. "When I detach a material, my Dragon gets 500 additional attack points, putting him at 2500! I also use the effect of my **Butterflyoke**, forcing your Utopia to attack position, and attack it with my dragon!"

_'What is he doing?'_ "No way. I detach a material, stopping your attack!"

"I end my turn then."

_'What is he planning?'_ "My draw, I set one and end my turn."

"I draw, set one, detach a material, and attack-"

"I detach!"

"And I will end."

_'This is an odd game.'_ Brief commented and drew his new card. He really should look into putting a BLS into this deck, as he drew a **Spirit Reaper**, and he knew that he could special summon the mighty monster with the Light and Dark monsters in his graveyard. "I switch my **Wind-Up Zenmaines** to attack mode and I'll send it to attack your **Hydro Genex**!"

"Why are you offing your own monster?" Aqua asked as his Zenmaines tried to slam one of its mechanical pincers into the aquatic amazon. Instead of killing it, the female drove the spear it had through its mechanical limb, forcing it to stop and pull away. Brief merely picked up one of Zenmaines' materials and sent it to the grave.

"By detaching a material, I can prevent Zenmaines from being destroyed. I then attack your **Hydro Genex** with Utopia-"

"Which I'll negate with Poseidon Wave!"

"Fine, but you have to deal with Zenmaines' other effect. If I used his effect once per turn, I can pick one card on the field and destroy it, and the card I pick is your **Hydro Genex**!" The broken pincer suddenly flew itself at the Synchro monster, piercing it in the head before it was destroyed into a colorful array of pixels. as if to add more salt to the wound, Brief activated **Monster Reborn**, bringing the Synchro over to his side of the field before ending his turn.

"Grrr, you'll regret that you little punk!" Aqua shouted at him and drew his card, though Brief frowned when he noticed that the card glowed dark blue for a quick second. Did that mean that it was a True Card? "I activate **Monster Reincarnation**, allowing me to send one card from my hand to the grave in order to add a monster from my grave back to my hand!" After he exchanged the cards from the hand and graveyard, the man continued. "I then normal my **Genex Controller**, play a second **Double Summon** so I can tribute it to bring out **Mecha Sea Dragon Plesion **(2300/1800) in attack mode!" A large, mechanical monster that reminded Brief of an aquatic dinosaur appeared, screaming while focusing on Brief, similar to what the Xyz monster did before. "I activate its ability, tributing my **Number 17: Leviathan Dragon** in order to destroy your **Wind-Up Zenmaines**!"

"No!" Brief could only watch as the mechanical monster shot a compressed water ball at Zenmaines, destroying it with ease. It also didn't help that, despite it and **Hydro Genex** being Water monsters, they both were Machine types, which, thanks to Umi, decreased their attack by 200, putting them both at 2100. Aqua smirked at him before ending his turn, allowing Brief to look at his back row and only calmed down at knowing he had extra protection on his side. "I draw," He said as he drew his new card, "I normal summon my second **Mine Mole** (1000/1200), flip summon my **Marshmallon** (300/500), and overlay the two in order to Xyz summon **Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction** (3000/3000)!"

"Thank you," Aqua interrupted, "I activate **Splash Capture**! When you Xyz summon a monster, I can banish two Fish-type monsters from my graveyard in order to take control of it!" Brief was about to complain, when he recalled the main focus of the deck Stocking made, and nodded, uncaring as he saw the huge beatstick appear on Aqua's side of the field. With nothing else to do, he ended his turn, watching with interest as his opponent drew his card, only for Acid Golem to block him from adding it to his hand. "Hey! What the fuck gives!"

"You are now in your standby phase, and have to pick between Acid Golem's effects. You can _either_ detach a material from him, or you can take 2000 points of damage."

"Fuck that! I detach one of his materials and I'll send him to destroy your Utopia!"

"Sorry, but I activate-" Brief paused, stopping himself from activating one trap card. _'If I use this one, he will use his other monster to sacrifice it and destroy one of my two monsters. I can't let him do that.'_ "I activate **Negate Attack**!"

"Fine, I end my turn." Brief only nodded before drawing his card, pondering how he could use it. When he looked at the field, he noticed the pesky trap card on his side of the field, **Butterflyoke**, that was attached to his Utopia, and grinned. He could now get rid of it in a turn.

"I set one card, one monster, put Utopia to defense mode, and end my turn."

"Damn," Aqua commented, "Acid Golem's effect goes off even when it doesn't have materials huh? I'll take the two grand then!" That was, sadly, the first bit of damage the man took, putting him at 6000 to Brief's 7300. "I activate **Butterflyoke's** effect-"

"Sorry, but I activate **Dark Bribe**, negating and destroying your trap card, in exchange for you drawing a card." Rather than looking upset, the criminal grinned and waved.

"Heh, I prefer getting a free draw anyway." With one new card in Aqua's hand, he pointed at the Utopia and gave it a thumb down. "And it is time why you don't mess with the Sharks! I attack it with Acid Golem!"

"Yet again, I am sorry for this. I negate it with **Waboku**, preventing any of my monsters from being destroyed, as well as negating any battle damage from being taken!" A trio of blue robed women appeared, praying to the heavens for his monster's protection, which caused Aqua to frown.

"Main phase two, I sacrifice my two monsters in order to summon **Levia-Dragon - Daedalus** (2600/1500) and activate his ability!" A long, meaty Sea Serpent monster appeared. It coiled around Aqua, allowing the water **Umi **provided to make its scales quite shiny, but its four eyes and the sharp row of teeth it had gave it a menacing look. "By sacrificing **Umi**, I destroy every card on the field except Daedalus!" A sudden tidal wave crashed into both players, destroying every card, may they be monster, spell, or trap, a fact that Brief didn't like one bit. His reserve card, **Nightmare Wheel**, as well as his set monster, **Spirit Reaper**, were destroyed in the process. "You're lucky I can't attack, or you'd be swimming with the fishes. I end my turn!"

"No, I'll be swimming in my family's pool of money. My draw!" One card later, and Brief knew that this deck was pulling through for him. "I normal summon **Goblindbergh **(1400/0) and activate his effect, special summoning **Ganbara Knight** (0/1800) in attack mode, in exchange for my **Goblindbergh** going on the defensive!" As soon as the two Warriors appeared side by side, he grinned and pulled out another card from the extra deck. "I then overlay the two in order to Xyz summon my second copy of **Number 39: Utopia**!"

"Fuck you too!" Aqua's shout didn't bother Brief one bit as his mighty Xyz monster appeared, sword drawn and ready to deal damage if need be. With no other cards in hand; however, he could only end his turn, giving the turn back to Aqua. "I draw, and I normal summon **Flyfang **(1600/300)!" A green and purple shark with two wings appeared beside the man's other monster, forcing it to flap its wings every now and again to keep in the air. "I then use **Aqua Jet**, giving my **Flyfang** 1000 attack (2600), and I'll use both of my monsters to attack your Utopia!"

"I negate both attacks by detaching both of Utopia's materials!" Both monsters were met by Brief's blade, forcing them back to Aqua's side of the field, though Brief noticed that the **Flyfang** flew into the sky.

"Confused?" Aqua asked, sarcasm dripping in the tone of his voice. "My **Flyfang** banishes itself until the standby phase of my next turn, protecting itself from being a target of anything you may have. The end is coming for you!"

"Not if I can help it! My draw!" _'Yes!'_ The deck came through for him once again! "I activate **Creature Swap**, making us exchange creatures yet again!"

"But...BUT!" The mighty serpent now appeared beside Brief, though the now material-less Utopia was now in front of the blue criminal. Brief couldn't stop the smirk that formed from appearing, but he knew that he deserved it.

"Now I attack with your monster, automatically destroying Utopia by its effect, and I end my turn."

"I draw." Aqua's previous banished monster, the **Flyfang**, appeared as he drew his card. He frowned, causing Brief to feel better at the same time at the lack of action the man could do. "I switch my monster to defense mode, set a card, and end my turn."

_'Probably a bluff.'_ Brief drew his card, a **Necro Gardna**, and set it. It would serve a purpose either way, but he sent the Daedalus to attack, not only destroying the **Flyfang**, but also proving him right that the set card was a bluff. He ended his turn, simply wanting to end this duel as quickly as possible. As soon as Aqua drew his card, he set it facedown before ending. Did the man's deck want him to lose, he wondered. "I draw, set one, and attack your facedown." With the smirk that was now on Aqua's face, Brief considered that he did something wrong. That was, until he actually heard it.

"By destroying my **Needle Sunfish** (1500/100), I get to target Daedalus and make it lose 500 attack points!"

"Okay? I still have a 2100 attack monster on my side of the field. I end my turn."

"Grrr, SHUT UP!" Aqua drew his card, set it down in the spell & trap zone, before ending his turn. It was then that he took his turn, smiling at the monster that he now had, and looked at the criminal's life points. He'd be losing in a matter of turns if nothing came up.

"I normal summon **Twin-Headed Behemoth** (1500/1200) in attack mode!" A purple scaled dragon appeared, spreading its bat-like wings while repositioning its two heads carefully. One head had red eyes and a matching horn, while the other head had blue eyes and a blue horn, truly showing that the two heads were different from each other, despite their symmetrical body. "I send my two monsters to attack you directly, dealing 3600 points of damage to you!" Despite the tidal wave that the Water attribute monster sent Aqua's way, the twin fireballs that came from his Dragon monster punctured the wave, striking the man at the same time, earning a decent sounding scream from him at the same time. as soon as he saw the man's life points drop to 2400, he ended his turn.

"I'll get you back for this. Just you wait!" Despite the harsh tone, the man set another card before ending his turn.

"Bluffs won't get you anywhere in this world. I draw," **Double Summon** would be worthless setting as a bluff, "and attack with-"

"I activate **Call of the Haunted**, bringing back **Hydro Genex** (2300/1800) to my side of the field in attack mode!" The aquatic female reappeared from a grave, twirling her weapon with grace that would have made Utopia jealous. Aqua smirked and shrugged his shoulders mockingly. "Oh, what was that about attacking me? I don't see any attacking!"

"I end my turn." Either way, Aqua was going to lose in a matter of turns, may it be one or ten more turns! As the man drew his card, Brief pondered if he SHOULD let the duel go on, letting the man ironically draw himself to no cards, but didn't trust that the luck of his deck would last long.

"I normal summon another **Shocktopus** (1600/800) and send my **Hydro Genex** to attack Daedalus!"

"Sorry, but you've forced me to activate **Mirror Force**, which destroys all of your attack positioned monsters." With only a few words, a bright, white barrier appeared, reflecting the Synchro monster's strike right back at her, destroying the monster with ease. However, its spear remained, only to fall straight onto the **Shocktopus**, killing it instantly. Aqua quickly ended his turn, allowing Brief to draw his card, equip Daedalus with **Axe of Despair** to raise its attack to 3100, and attacked with his two monsters for game, watching as their combined attack not only caused aqua to scream much louder, but forced him to fall to the ground. He walked over to the man, catching the C-Ring that shot itself off the man's duel disk as he stopped in front of the man.

"F-Fuck you d-doin-" The man couldn't continue as Brief picked him up and slammed him into the wall, his lip turned to a straight line.

"Now, a deal is a deal. Tell me what happened to those two cards my friend had!"

"F-Fu-Fuck Yo-"

"Aqua!" Bruno, Brief believed the man's name was, walked over to them and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the blue haired criminal. Despite the glare on the man's face, he didn't make a move to try and shoot him with the gun on Aqua's side. "Right after I knocked out your friend, another one of your friends came and dueled us. She defeated us, two against one, with no life point increase on her side due to us dueling, and she took us out easily. Ask your friend, since she has them."

"And does this friend have a name?" The man looked away, oddly enough sporting a light blush on his face. There wasn't much of a reason he would be blushing from one of his friends, considering he didn't have any beautiful friends other than Stocking, and she was with him. _'Wait, did I just consider Stocking beautiful?'_

"Her...Her name was something like panties. Panties and something about rules following after that." Brief nodded, turned around and walked away from the duo and opened the door. He heard an unfamiliar grunt, barely looked over his shoulder out of habit and saw the gun that Aqua pulled out, a revolver that ironically looked similarly to the head of a shark, and shot at him. If he was anyone else, he would have freaked out and would have either fallen to the floor to avoid it, stepped back, or dodged and shot at the man with the pistol he tool earlier. If he was an unfortunate soul like most of the world, he would have been too shocked to move out of the way and would have died from a bullet in the head.

However, he is Briefers Rock, heir to the Rock Foundation, and he simply glared at the man, uncaring as the golden armor appeared on his body, blocking the bullet and forced it to fall to the ground. He didn't care for either of the two's shocked expressions, nor did he consider simply ignoring them and continuing on. No, he, as a Rock, needed to issue punishment to the one who attempted to take his life, and there was only one fitting punishment to such an action.

"Cease."

And neither of the two men survived the blinding light that surrounded them, instantly disappearing without a moment to realize their death. Brief walked back into the room to grab their duel disks and decks, hoping to alter the decks and give them to people who deserved them, unlike those two who sullied themselves with the criminal world. As he left the hallway, his golden armor disappeared before anyone else could see him, allowing him to walk out of the bar with nothing but many frightening looks upon the collective group of people in the place, and went straight for American Eagle, hoping to not only change back into his previous set of clothes, but to wrap around the information he was given, as well as understand the paradox of an answer he kept on coming up to.

Why would Panty Anarchy, Stocking's sister, want those two Yu-Gi-Oh cards? Heck, why did she even care about Yu-Gi-Oh at all? He hoped that the girl who Bruno was talking about was Scanty Akuma, considering that she and her sister preached on and on about rules, and her name, though a bit of a stretch, was similar to the word panties. But he couldn't agree with that idea, as Scanty and Kneesocks were with them when Stocking got the text with the two pictures, meaning that it happened while the four were chatting. There was a slight chance that it WAS them though, as Kneesocks was messing with her I-Phone, so who is to say that the text didn't come from her while she was "reading" the information about the guy Stocking first dueled against?

_'None of this makes sense!'_ A death on the opening day of the Battle City tournament, criminals participating in a card game event, and Panty, the most anti-nerd girl he knew, was now playing the game with a deck that could beat two opponents at the same time if he heard correctly. That wasn't to mention the strange wind that took **Stardust Dragon**, the fact that Kona was stopping anyone from leaving the city via most of the highway exits, and the fact that Garterbelt took the next few days off, a piece of information his Gothic friend told him hours ago. _'I hope I'm wrong.'_ Was all he could think about as he walked to the bathroom, knocked on the door in the familiar code he answered earlier, and quickly walked in after he received a few knocks in return.

Only time would tell what exactly was going on in this tournament.

-Author's Note-

Hello readers, reviewers, and followers! I welcome you to my author notes and, as usual, I don't own Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Yu-Gi-Oh, or anything else that finds itself in this story of mine. I do own a few tons of cards, a Stocking Key chain, and the first season of the P&S series. With that in mind, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter as much as I have, considering it is just as long, if not longer than the previous chapter! Despite the fact that I only got one review for the previous chapter, now that I think about it, I am sure there are several happy readers still reading this story right?

Either way, this chapter had a good chunk of information and events that do matter, as you might have guessed. Brief explaining how he got into Yu-Gi-Oh, only to show a much different side of him that hasn't been seen before, or how about Sal and her little nightmare and the hidden meanings within it? Now that we know that both of the Akuma sisters are going to be in the tournament, what decks shall they have under their thumbs to use against our main cast of characters? So many questions, but the only way to get the answers is by reading more of the story! Now then, time to answer the reviews! Wait, sorry, _review_.

**Nasha Rei-Kun**: I am thankful for your kind review, and I can only hope that this story will one day get many reviews, but since there aren't that many crossovers for the P&S category, and I'm one of two authors who have something in the P&S/Yu-Gi-Oh slot (up to my knowledge at least), I doubt it will pick up any time soon. Yep, one douche and one decent guy are now gone from life though, but their cards shall be put to a better use someday! As for Panty, as you can see, her actions have caused much more harm than good, and it has forced Brief to show a much colder, pardon my pun, Stone persona of him, which will most likely not be explained for a long, LONG time.

And to those who have read the chapter, thank you for your continuous following, and I thank the new readers for taking the time to read this! I do hope to see many reviews from everyone though. Until next time everyone!


	13. Arc 2: Unexpected Information

The silence between them was unusual, Stocking realized as she looked through another rack of clothes that would be perfect for Sal. It wasn't as if her friend was unable to pick anything for herself, but she was rather quiet about what had happened, though why she didn't have a clue. She had an idea, but she wasn't sure if either of the ideas were right or not, which made the situation even worse. Currently, her friend was wearing a blue tank top with a pair of black jeans that clung to her waist passionately, but Sal didn't like the shirt, hence her current task.

"So what color are you thinking? Do you want a short sleeve shirt or a long sleeve?"

"I don't care on the color, but short sleeve would be best since it is getting a bit more windy." Stocking pulled out a red polo, oddly enough having several black tribal designs around the collar that would curve towards the upper chest, a perfect way to make people look at someone's breasts with ease, and tossed it at her. She continued pulling a few shirts to the side, mostly in the chance that Sal didn't like that particular shirt either, and sat down on a chair not too far from the changing booths. While she didn't mind waiting for her friend, she hoped that they could leave soon so she could get out and start dueling for more C-Rings, as the more she got today, the less she would have to bargain during the next two days, especially when most, if not all of the serious duelists would be prowling the streets on Friday, which was the last day of the C-Ring hunt.

_'If I only throw out one C-Ring as my ante, I'll have three, but I trust my deck and know it works under any type of battle condition, so maybe I should go ahead and throw two up for the ante?'_ She wasn't cocky like Brief could be, though those moments were some of the few she liked to see from him, but she didn't dismiss the fact that she could win just about any situation if she had the right first turn hand, and even if she didn't, her deck always supplied her with a way out.

"Hey Stocking." She turned to see Sal, who wore the new shirt and looked happier in it already, and waved.

"You're looking great Sal!"

"Thanks." Sal sat down next to her, pulling out her deck from her duel disk and handed it to her. She knew that Sal wouldn't be quitting Yu-Gi-Oh from something like this, so she wondered as to why she was being handed her deck. "Do you think that this deck could easily run Synchro monsters in it?" Rather than look through it, she handed it back to her. She didn't want any hints to look through and analyze her friend's deck, as it was always possible that they would have to duel against each other in the finals of the tournament.

"Seeing you play it all the time allows me to understand how you play Sal. So I don't have to look through your deck to get that idea." Stocking started off, earning a grin from her friend. She sighed and pulled out her extra deck, revealing **Dark Highlander** and **Chaos King Archfiend** to the girl, hoping to make a point. "Xyz monsters are much easier to bring out than Synchro monsters, especially since Xyz monsters are compatible with any deck that exists, but Synchros are more powerful, which makes it hard for players to go cold turkey from them. Your deck CAN run Synchro monsters, but your **Splendid Venus**, two **The Forgiving Maiden** cards, and **Angel 07** will have to go to give you space for Tuner monsters, and you would also have to alter your spells and traps too, considering you may need a Tuner that is in the grave.

"You also have to consider what kind of Synchro monster you want. I know that you'll be wanting Light ones, but you will also have to consider what is the highest level you can create, as Synchro monsters come in a variety of levels. I, personally, only run two since it is so rare for me to actually bring either of them out, and when I do I tend to just use them as a beat stick, rather than altering my deck to make better use of their effects." Sal nodded, looking through her deck once more before looking at one particular card that she couldn't get a good look it. Whatever it was, it caused her to quickly shove her cards together and force them back into her deck slot as if she forced a door to close.

"I just realized something. I'm wearing these new clothes, but I still need to buy them before I should get comfortable in them. You wanna get out of here and try to find Brief?" Brief, their nerdy friend who she had a rivalry with, was currently making a call somewhere outside of the store they were in at the moment. He said that he would be back in a minute or two, but considering how its been half an hour, she figured that he was doing something more than simply making a "call" to someone. If he was trying to do something for Sal, as nice as it would be, she would personally kick his ass for trying to cause more trouble for their friend.

"Sure. There is nothing in here that suit my tastes to wear anyway." It didn't take them long to buy Sal's new outfit, though it was a bit awkward for the male cashier to lean close to her and use the magnetic tag key to take off the alarm tags on her, and they quickly left the store. Despite seeing him stand in front of it a minute before they ventured in to get Sal some clothes, he was nowhere to be seen, and he wasn't answering his phone either, a fact that made Stocking worry for her rival. If he had a Heaven issued phone, then things wouldn't have been so difficult, as she could have simply tracked the phone in the same manner that Garterbelt did to ensure that she and her sister were actually doing their Heavenly duties.

As they were walking around the shopping center of Daten City, walking the city streets in hopes of finding Brief, Stocking noticed that someone was tailing them. It wasn't anyone she personally recognized, a long, red haired girl who wore what seemed to be very expensive clothes from a brand name designer's line, and had the strangest glossy green eyes she had ever seen. For some reason, a reason she couldn't truly put her thumb on, those eyes made her think of something she saw before, but she couldn't recall what she was trying to remember exactly, and it was bothering her. There was a moment where the unknown individual was missing from her sights, but she was unsure if that was exactly a good thing or not, as the only opponent one wanted was the opponent that was below their feet bleeding their life away.

It was then that her phone started to ring, making her pause mid-step and glanced at the caller ID. She didn't want to talk to her mom, learning her lesson for answering the phone without checking the screen, and smiled when she saw it was Garterbelt calling. One click later, and she pulled the phone away knowing full well what was about to happen.

**"PANSY ASS ANGEL! THERE IS A STRONG GHOST SIGNAL COMING FROM THE SHOPPING CENTER, DEFEAT THE SOURCE BY ANY MEANS! OH, AND DON'T HIDE ANY OF THE HEAVENS FROM ME!" **Garterbelt's loud, booming voice nearly broke the surrounding windows, but it definitely caused her to lose a bit of her hearing. If there were Ghosts in the area, then her phone would have began beeping as if Hell broke loose, making her well aware of the strong signal that Garterbelt seemed to be picking up. Was there a chance that he updated his phone without giving her or Panty a new model like his? A loud, wordless scream broke her from her casual pace of thinking, and caused her to shift into her hunting mode, jumping up to pull off Stripe 1&2 and transformed them before even touching the ground.

"Find a safe place to hide in Sal!" She told her friend, not even bothering to look at her as she ran around the block, instantly glaring at the sight before her. Civilians all around her were being stung on the head, transforming into an eerie pink coloration of their outfit, and made a mad dash for her, fists formed to beat her within an inch of her life. There was only one Ghost who had that particular ability, but she was purified by Panty with a bullet to the head. She was sure of it!

**"Join us..."** The infected spoke in uniform, creeping her out as she slapped each of their heads with the flat side of her blades. Despite the fact that her strikes were as effective as before, destroying the Ghosts that caused the transformation with ease, it didn't give her any hint as to where the main hive was located. The main hive couldn't have been far, since there was no way she could be at full strength.

_'Then again...'_ Stocking dodged a fist, kicking the infected's head upwards and slapped them with Stripe 2, sending them flying into a wall. _'If this is the same Ghost I think it is, then she could have been using the past few months to recover and use her abilities from a longer range. This is troublesome.'_ A sudden scream caused her to look behind her, frowning at the sight of Sal, who was pointing up at the sky, and saw a hailstorm of Ghosts falling with the intention of impaling her and anyone in the process without a care in the world.

"Get into the store to your left!" Sal pointed to the building she was running towards, forcing her to comply and combined her Stripes together, forming a small whirling shield of death that instantly killed any Ghost that collided with it, and hurried into the store. It didn't take much effort to block the entrance from any forceful attempts to open it, but what did take effort was not instantly yelling at Sal for not listening to her, considering she never fought with her or her sister against high class Ghosts like Brief did.

"Care to explain as to why you risked your life to point me to this store?"

"Because there was a girl in pink that bumped into me and ran into this store. When I saw that you were here, I figured that where she was going must be where the main Ghost must be located." Despite the urge to punch Sal for trying to pull a Brief, she ignored the urge and looked for the nearest floor map for the store instead. This particular store was actually a small mall, having five floors, each with four mini-stores apparently, but she didn't care for what stores were on each floor. She had a feeling that the Ghost would be on the roof, and that was where she had to be, which meant that she had to find the main stairs, as the elevator wouldn't access the roof.

"Any idea as to where the emergency stairs are located Sal?" The sound of cracking made the girls stop their thoughts, looking up at the ceiling to see the head of a pray mantis Ghost screech at them before scraping more of the ceiling. "Forget it, lets get going!" Stocking simply grabbed Sal's hand and forced her to follow, whether she wanted to or not at this point, in hopes of finding any kind of door in the main floor. If not, then it meant that she would have to take the main elevator to another floor and investigate it in hopes of finding the stairs there. She ignored the sound of the Ghost landing on the floor, as well as the screech it released in hopes of intimidating her, but the one thing she quickly found out that she could not ignore were the scythe blades that it seemed to launch at them.

"Over there!" Sal's shout most likely attracted the Ghost to their destination, an experience she was used to thanks to Panty's big mouth, and wasn't surprised when a pair of scythes narrowly passed by them. She placed her combined Stripes in her mouth, gripping the hilt with her teeth and grabbed the two scythes that were stuck in the wall. Despite the burning sensation that was building up in her hands, she knew that she could now defeat the Ghost with ease, and ran towards it, taking in its physical form. It was tall, nearly towering over her by being triple her height, but was crouching down due to the main floor being too small for it to properly function, being the normal black, red, and gold coloration that all Ghosts are known for, but it had many pairs of scythes that kept on regrowing, though the rate changed, as she saw the first two pair grow instantly, while the other three were slowly developing.

_'Now is my chance!'_ Stocking dashed behind a clothing rack, forcing it to fling its newly developed scythes at the rack to get a better visual of her, only for the Angel to jump up and throw one of the scythes it took at its arms, slicing them with ease. The scream it released was music to her ears, a song that wasn't meant to be heard by human ears, and threw the other scythe at the other arms on its right side, causing more of its blood to pour to the ground. With her hands now free, she separated Stripes 1&2, jumping as close as she could to the Ghost and decapitated it in a manner of seconds. _'A fitting death, considering the female eats the head of their mate when they're done with them.'_ She, luckily, remembered the usual habit of Ghosts exploding and hurried up the stairs that Sal pointed out a minute ago, two Heaven Coins in hand as the explosion not only destroyed the rest of the ceiling, destroying the second floor, but most likely caught some of the clothes in there on fire, which would hopefully alarm the fire department to their situation.

"Does...This...Always HAPPEN?!" Sal said, a few deep breaths forcing her to pause. Stocking shrugged and looked upwards, noticing that reaching the roof would be easy as long as no other Ghosts came after them, and motioned for her friend to follow. Sal forced her hand by making it apparent as to where the boss was, so she now had to follow the Angel for her own protection. Their journey up the stairs was silent, allowing her to watch her cell phone for any sudden Ghost signals coming their way, and yet, oddly enough, nothing made a move towards them. Than in itself was unusual, as Ghosts knew when Angels were around, and mostly tried to run or kill the source of Angelic energy. So, if they weren't coming towards her...

_'Then I'm, sorry, _we're_ walking right into a trap.'_ The door to the roof was covered in bright gold slime, though she didn't understand as to why it was glazed in such a way. It could mean a number of things, such as the roof was where the Ghost snuck in from, or that the roof is sealed from the outside, but the fact that she could turn the doorknob struck that idea from the list. A look to Sal showed that the girl was ready for anything, at least, mentally she was trying to be, but it was the thought that made her smile at her friend. "We should be fine. I can handle anything that is sent at us." Sal nodded, allowing for her to open the door and walk on the roof.

Well, if by roof she meant the inside of a hive, then yes, they walked on the roof. It must have had some kind of camouflage ability, as when she looked up at the roof moments before running into the building she saw nothing that looked like a hive, unless the hive was much smaller than she thought possible. The floor was stable, so she knew that there was no trap waiting to come from the ground, but it was by looking up that her fears were realized, and a name she thought she would never have to think about escaped her lips.

"Barby!" It was odd seeing someone you thought was dead, someone that _should_ have been dead sitting on a solid gold colored throne that was covered in some kind of gold liquid, but what freaked her out more was the Ghost form of Barby that was flying above the human Barby that sat on the throne. It was impossible for a Ghost to be both Ghost and human, as they had to be connected like Bloody Hood and Gal Ghoul to truly exist, but there was no visible connection between the two, and there was also no strings or form of Ghost energy her phone was detecting. 'So how are there two Barbys in front of me?'

**_"Ah, if it isn't Stocking Anarchy, one of the two former Queens of Daten High! How have you been?"_** The Ghost body of Barby spoke, something that made things easier for Stocking. It was a potential sign that the human body of Barby was just a physical construct that could be destroyed easily. All she needed to do was reach it, but she had no way to do that just yet in a safe, full-proof manner.

"What are you doing back on Earth Barby? Last time we met, you were purified by my sister and sent to Heaven to live in peaceful eternity!"

**_"Oh, was I?"_** Barby smirked, pointing at her as if she was nothing more than an ice cream flavor that she wanted. **_"All you saw was my body being destroyed, and that your precious church bell rang to signal that the body was gone, but what of the soul? Did you see my soul go to Heaven? Did you or your sister receive any record saying that I was actually in HEAVEN?"_ **A light turned on in Stocking's mind, revealing to her a puzzle she didn't know was there, and she saw the picture it presented as clear as day. Even if the puzzle was missing a few pieces, she knew what she was dealing with, and it wasn't something she was happy to come across.

"This is your spare body, isn't it?"

**_"Got it on your first try, clever. If it wasn't for your sister, or for the social structure of High School, I could have seen us being great, great friends. Alas,"_** Barby flew to the ground, though for what reason she didn't know, and watched as two cheerleader drones appeared from the walls of the hive itself, creeping her out more than it should have. What was strange was that they were holding something under two blankets, though what they were she didn't know, and that worried her. **_"I am a queen, and us queens must have an heir so our hive can naturally survive. Or, in my wonderful case, a spare body so my soul can remain on Earth for all eternity without risk of harm, ensuring that those I care for under my hive shall grow and prosper before I may move on and start a new life away from the old hive. Is that so much to ask?"_**

"It is when you terrorize the city!" Sal's reply was unnecessary, but it was the truth whether Stocking wanted to admit it or not. Barby glared at the girl, sizing her up in a matter of seconds before focusing her attention back to the Angel.

**_"It is true, that I did overdo the warm welcome for Stocking here, but it was all just to catch her attention. I needed to speak to her, alone, for that matter. So if you could-"_**

"I'm not going to leave her to the likes of you!"

"Sal!" Stocking's shout cause her friend to widen her eyes, as if she was struck on the cheek by her, but made no room to apologize. She shouldn't have been here, but the one thing she shouldn't have done was try to anger Barby, as they were stuck in her realm of order, which would mean that they were surrounded by bees. Much to her surprise, the Queen Bee chuckled and smirked at the two.

**_"Impressive, a human who doesn't seem to fear me. But, do I sense a bit of fear within her for something in her soul? If you won't leave us, poor girl, why don't we make things interesting..."_** The two drones uncovered the items they were holding, revealing two items that she never thought she would ever see someone like Barby associate herself with, and it was utterly confusing to see her with such items.

"You got to be shitting me." Sal took the words out of her mouth, that much Stocking could agree upon. Barby, the same one who hated nerds and considered them lower than trash, was putting on a pink and green duel disk on her right arm, gently pushing in the deck of cards that the other drone held for her. It was then that she noticed that one of the drones, the redhead that Sal most likely pointed out, wore a bright red duel disk of her own that reminded her of fire.

**_"Why don't we play a tag-team duel? We each share the 8000 life points, and I shall go first, followed by you, then my loyal servant shall go, and finally ending with the replacement of your sister, unless that girl is just your fangirl like Brief is to Panty."_** That particular comment about Brief brought Stocking's mood down from calm and collective to anger and painful, as that was one particular thought that she didn't want to happen. Brief finding interest in Panty again was... No! That is not something to think about at this moment! **_"If I win, you won't kill me or my hive, but if you win, I'll tell you an important piece of information that will, if ignored, leave Daten City in ruins. So, are you up for a challenge?"_** Stocking wanted to just ignore the offer and go in for the kill, knowing full well that she was faster than the Ghost bee, as well as knew that by the time Barby would transform into her full attack state and try to point her inner hive at her, she would already have used the drones as a jump platform and stab her in the stomach, and that was assuming that she was slightly in the air.

"Sal, are you okay with this?" Sal nodded, her duel disk already in the process of shuffling her deck, and Stocking did the same. She didn't want to do this, but was much safer to do this than to attack and possibly lose Sal in the process. "We'll accept your challenge. Just don't act like a sore loser when you lose Barby, and don't back out on your side of the deal." The other drone suddenly grew wings and landed next to the human construct of Barby, slightly surprising the Angel at how different the drones were, since they couldn't fly the last time she and her sister fought her.

**_"Oh, don't worry, I won't. I don't lie to my subjects dear, and, as much as I hate you slum Angels, you are in this city that I have considered my hive, which means you fall under my protection. If that is all, then shall we begin our duel?"_** As soon as Stocking nodded her head, the four of their projectors launched off their duel disks, landing in various placed that gave the entire hive a wide scope of field usage. It was an interesting situation, Stocking had to admit, wondering how exactly this tight field would effect the emergence of creatures. **_"If there is nothing else, then I shall draw. It has been a long time since I held a Yu-Gi-Oh card, I will admit. Back then, all I knew was Yugi, Joey, and some of Gx with Jaden and Alexis. But now, I have learned more and I shall be able to defeat the one everyone calls the Field Ruler herself!"_**

_'Oh great.'_ Stocking thought to herself. _'That nickname that Steven, I think his name was, called me while we were dueling. How does she know of it? Just how long was she alive after the purification?'_

**_"I shall activate _**_Magical Mallet_**_, allowing me to shuffle two cards from my hand to the deck, and redraw two cards!"_** A red mallet appeared from above and slammed itself to the duel disk, forcing out two cards that Barby happily accepted. Whatever they were, she looked happier than before. "I set a monster, as well as one card, before ending my turn."

"Not bad, for an amateur duelist. My move!" Stocking taunted the Ghost. Her opening hand could have been much better, but she was happy to have at least one physically strong monster in her hand that would make backrow less of an issue. At least, she hoped it wouldn't be an issue. "I normal summon **Pitch-Black Warwolf**(1600/600), set one card, and end my turn!" Her monster appeared in a unique fashion, one she didn't expect that was for sure. It appeared by ripping down a section of the hive, snarling at Barby as it walked in front of her and brought its sword high, ready for combat. It gave a glance back at her and gave a respectful nod, bringing a smile to her face.

"My turn." The drone partner of Barby spoke out. To be honest, if it wasn't for the fact that she was a member of the tag-team, as well as spoke without the Ghost tone, Stocking was sure that she wouldn't have heard the girl speak at all, considering the buzzing inside the hive. "I set a monster, as well as two cards, and end my turn."

"My turn, and I set three cards before ending my turn." Sal's hand must have been horrible, Stocking figured, since she was normally the one to normal summon something big on her first turn. Nothing as impressive as Brief and his Synchro monsters, but something in Xyz form, like an Utopia.

**_"Aww, is the fangirl failing at impressing her idol? It isn't as if you can compare to an Angel dear."_** Barby's taunt got a rise out of the girl, which was something Stocking knew would happen. Sal hated it when anyone questioned her dueling skill, in any manner too. **_"Let_****_ me show you how its done. I draw, set a monster and a card, before ending my turn."_**

"_THAT_ is showing how its done? Maybe for a noob!" Sal's comment didn't bring a rise from the Ghost, which worried Stocking a bit. Just what was Barby's deck anyway, considering all she supposedly watched was the original Yu-Gi-Oh and some of Gx.

"I draw, and I-"

**_"I must interrupt you by activating my _**_Dust Tornado_**_!"_** Barby's command suddenly released a strong tornado upon her facedown card, a **Mischief of the Yokai**, and could only watch as it was destroyed before her very eyes. Barby didn't know of the card, considering the confused look she wore after seeing it, but the smile on her face didn't diminish. **_"As you can see, it destroys your set facedown, as well as gives me the opportunity to set one. Luckily for you, I won't. Carry on with your turn."_**

"Thanks." Stocking replied sarcastically. "I'll send my Warwolf to attack one of your monsters Barby!" Barby shook her head, though why Stocking didn't understand, but watched as a large, blue ladybug with a skull painted on its shell appeared for a moment. Its destruction was thanks to her monster stabbing the card, plucking the monster from the safety of its card and ripped its head off. The head, oddly enough, went directly into Barby's mouth, who happily ate it in disgusting glee.

**_"Whenever my _**_Skull-Mark Ladybug_**_ is destroyed and is sent to the graveyard, I, or in this case we, get 1000 life points!"_** Stocking set another card down before ending her turn. The slight life point increase was troubling, but nothing that she couldn't handle, as they were only at 9000. The drone drew her card without a word, and gently placed it on the monster zone.

"I normal summon **Rhinotaurus** (1800/600) and send it to attack your partner directly." A tall, muscular rhino with two curved horns growing from his shoulders appeared in front of the drone. It also had a pair of dagger-like bones growing from its wrists, though what was odd were the stone shoes it wore for no reason. As it ran towards Sal, she suddenly smirked and flipped one of her face-downs.

"You're not the only one who can gain life points Queen Bee! I activate **Draining Shield**, which negates your partner's attack and gives us life points equal to its attack!" With them at 9800, Stocking knew that this game was going to be a long one, and silently hoped that Panty would barge in and shoot Barby to end it. Barby might be holding important information, but the one thing she personally hated when it came to dueling were long games.

"I set one card down and end my turn."

"Back to me. I draw, and end my turn."

**_"Still nothing but back row little fangirl? I draw my card, set it, and end my turn."_**

"You know Barby," Stocking began as she drew her card, "I wonder if you're lesbian for Sal, considering how much you're picking on her. I'm sure she would give you a date before telling you that she doesn't swing that way."

**_"I-I-I can't believe you would _**suggest**_ such a lewd thing! She doesn't stand on her own feet, relying on others! I can tell simply by looking at her, which means that she has been using crutches for as long as she has been alive!"_**

"Shut up! You know nothing about Sal!" Stocking slapped her monster on her duel disk and glared at the Ghost. "I normal summon **Tour Guide from the Underworld** (1000/600), and I use her effect to special summon **Creation Resonator** (800/600), but they won't be on the field for long. I overlay the two in order to Xyz summon **Grenosaurus** (2000/1900) in attack mode!" The mighty dinosaur ran into the hive, destroying a good third of the hive, much to Barby's anger, and roared in front of Stocking. "I then use my Xyz monster to attack your drone's **Rhinotaurus**! Oh, and before you even think of activating any trap cards, my Warwolf prevents the both of you from activating any in the battle phase!"

**_"What mockery is this?!"_** Despite the loud yell from Barby, the drone was quiet as ever as her monster was destroyed in a fiery blaze, though the worst was yet to come for them.

"I then activate **Grenosaurus'** effect! By detaching a material, he can deal 1000 points of damage to you two, making you two take 1200 points total!" Rather than sending another fireball at the drone, her monster decided to simply slap them with its tail, making the two fell to the ground for a moment before standing once more. "I send my Warwolf to attack your drone's other facedown monster!"

"That won't do you any good." The drone spoke out. She flipped her card, revealing **Charcoal Inpachi** (2100), which meant that, thanks to her reckless attack, would force themselves to lose 500 life points, putting them at 9300. It was a better number than Barby's life points, which was 7800, but she didn't want to run into any traps for them either. With not much else she could do, she ended her turn, allowing the drone to take hers. "I draw my card, normal summon **Inferno** (1100/1900), and equip it with **Fighting Spirit**." The living flame suddenly grew about three feet, making the area hotter than Stocking was use to, but that wasn't the worst part, she would soon realize. "For every monster my opponent grows, my monster gains 300 attack, currently placing it at 1700. I then activate **Spellbinding Circle**, forcing your **Grenosaurus **to lose its ability to not only attack, but to change its battle position either. I then attack your **Pitch-Black ****Warwolf**-"

"Sorry, but I activate **Magic Cylinder**, making you two take 1700 points of damage, as well as negates the attack!"

"Thanks for the save Sal!" Stocking watched as a pink barrel appeared in front of her monster, taking in the human skulls the drone's monster spat at her, and watched as the skulls forcefully slammed into their opponents, signaling that they were now at 6100.

"I end my turn."

"Which means that it is my turn. Come on, draw me something good!" Sal's words brought a smile to her face as she watched her friend draw, only for her mood to drop down to a semi-happy state. What was wrong with her, was all she could wonder. "I set a card and end my turn."

**_"Your fire for life is out, isn't it?"_** Barby questioned as she drew her card. She pressed one of the buttons on the duel disk, revealing one of her back row, which suddenly released an armored Naga, a monster rumored to exist only in Japan and China, with a black snake head coming out of its back. Its sword and shield matched the snake theme, which was something that was ironic for Barby, since snakes were known to eat certain insects. **_"I play _**_Embodiment of Apophis_**_ (1600/1800), which special summons her to my side of the field, and I activate the spell card_**_ Blustering__Winds_**_, granting my monster 1000 attack and defense (2600/2800), until my next standby phase!"_**

_'That is not good!'_ Stocking thought to herself as a small whirlwind surrounded the Naga, making her soulless glare more frightening than it should have been.

**_"I attack your _**_Pitch-Black __Warwolf_**_with my monster-"_**

"Not so fast!" Sal came to save the day once again, which was something that Stocking was starting to appreciate. "I activate **Threatening Roar**, which means you can't declare an attack this turn!"

"Not a problem then. I set one card and end my turn."

"For a queen, your deck isn't impressive." Stocking drew her card, smiling at a new monster to play with, but wondered if she should play it. She technically could have brought out a monster when Barby special summoned her Naga, but didn't because her drone partner seemed to be playing support like Sal was for her, which was both a good and bad thing. Then again, it would help end the duel, which was what Stocking wanted, since no C-Rings were being wagered in this duel, only information. "I tribute both my **Pitch-Black Warwolf **and my **Grenosaurus** in order to tribute summon **The Supremacy Sun** (3000/3000)." The tall, armored Fiend was unlike any monster she previously summoned. This one felt at one with the light, making her wonder as to just how this monster would act if it had a bit of a True Soul within it, if Brief's little theory held any base of truth or fact. "I then activate **Lightning Vortex**, discarding a card to-"

"I activate **The Huge Revolution is Over**, which negates your spell card and banishes it." The drone said, making her frown as she forced her spell to the banished zone. She had a back up plan though, and planned to use it right now.

"If that is the case, then I activate **Pot of Avarice**!" A large, ugly looking purple pot appeared in front of her, showing its gem teeth. It stuck its tongue out, taking out her five monsters and force them in the air. "I can pick five monsters in my graveyard and force them back into my deck, or in the case of **Grenosaurus**, the extra deck, shuffle my deck, and draw two cards!" The pot forced the cards to go back to their respected places, forcing her deck to automatically shuffle, and stopped.

**_"But you only had four monsters in your grave, not five!"_** Barby shouted.

"When I activated **Lightning Vortex**, I was forced to discard a card, and the card I discarded was **Damage Mage**, which is a monster. As such, I am allowed to play **Pot of Avarice** and use its effect. Now if you don't mind, I'm drawing." Ironically, one of the cards she drew was a **Damage Mage**, but the second card would be useful for disrupting her opponent. "I set one card and use **The Supremacy Sun** to attack your Naga monster!" An intense ray of light destroyed her monster, bringing them down to 5700 due to the difference in attack, but what was unsettling was the sudden glare Sal was sending her way. Didn't she want to win this duel as soon as possible? "I end my turn."

"My turn," The drone started off, "I normal summon **Flamvell Baby** (800/200) and tune it to my **Inferno** in order to Synchro summon my level 5 **Laval Dual Slasher** (2400/200) in attack mode."

"Nope. That spicy monster isn't good for my stomach, so I'm sending it back to the kitchen with my **Compulsory Evacuation Device**." Stocking interrupted, smiling as the Synchro card was forced back to the extra deck before the monster could fully form outside of it. The drone ended her turn, which was all she could do with no other monsters to summon, giving the turn to Sal.

"I draw." Sal mumbled as she drew her card. She smiled at the card, which made Stocking hope that she drew something good. "I activate **Fissure**, which destroys your charcoal monster drone! Following that, I summon **Dunames Dark Witch** (1800/1050), and send it to attack you directly!"

**_"I protect my hive, and this is one example of it!"_** Barby caught her attention by flipping a card over. **_"I activate_** _Dark Spirit of the Silent**, which forces your Fairy to attack Stocking's mighty Fiend monster! How is that for cruel irony?"**_

"Shit!" Stocking could only watch as the Fairy-type monster made a move to attack **The Supremacy Sun**, only for an intense ray of light to wipe its existence off the field, signaling its destruction. Sal, fortunately for the Angel, was glaring at the Ghost rather than at her, though as to why she glared at her in the first place still confused the Angel.

"Main phase two, I activate **Monster Reincarnation**, allowing me to discard a card in order to add my monster back to my hand. With that, I end my turn."

**_"My turn, and I flip summon my _**_Dark Spider_**_ (0/0), and activate its effect, making it level 3. I then follow through by summoning _**_Junk S__ynchron_**_(1300/500), though I have no monsters for his effect to come into play. I tune it to my now level 3 _**_Dark Spider_**_ in order to Synchro summon _**_Underground Arachnid_**_ (2400/1200) in attack mode!"_**

_'I thought she only knew cards from the Yu-Gi-Oh era and the Gx series!'_ Stocking thought to herself. Despite all the thinking she could, it did nothing to prevent the spider monster that already had a female caught in its grasp from the torso up. The female's face was covered by some form of mask, but that didn't matter as much as the fact that Barby was more dangerous than she thought before.

**_"I then activate my loyal monster's effect, allowing me to take any monster on the field and equip it to itself, and I pick your Supremacy Sun!"_** The spider spat a long, thick web at her monster and could do nothing but watch as it was now attached to it. Still, this didn't mean that Stocking had no plays left to protect herself.

"Since Synchro summons count as a special summon, I can discard a card in my hand in order to special summon **Chaos Hunter** (2500/1600) in attack mode!" Her female dominatrix appeared in a normal manner, glaring at the Synchro monster and stretched her whip in a threatening manner. As much as she loved her monster, she watched as Barby's gaze went over to Sal.

**_"Since I can't attack you Gothy, I will attack your fangirl."_**

"Sorry, but I activate **Metal Reflect Slime** (3000), which special summons itself to my side of the field in defense mode! Lets see you get over its 3000 defense points!" The slime monster, ironically, took the form of **Splendid Venus**, though why Stocking had no idea, but it did prevent Barby from dealing any damage to them for one turn at least.

**_"Fine, you have a small wall. I end my my turn, but don't hide forever."_**

"We're not hiding Barby. We're getting ready to defeat you! I draw!" Stocking's new card was exactly what she needed at this point to give them a further life point advantage. "I normal summon **Tour Guide from the Underworld** (1000/600), and use it to special summon **Creation Resonator** (800/600) in attack mode." She had to stop for a moment to shuffle her deck and place it back in its slot, but it was enough for Barby to understand what she was going to do. "I use my two monsters to Xyz summon **Chronomaly Crystal Chrononaut **(2100/1000) in attack mode!" The newest monster for her extra deck arrived by flying in from the giant hole her **Grenosaurus **made, presenting her with the weirdest purple alien monster she had ever seen, but it had a useful purpose. "I send my **Chaos Hunter** to destroy your drone's monster, and end my turn."

"My...turn." The drone paused, as if considering why she didn't go in for a direct attack. She drew her card, but simply placed it on the duel disk without much joy, like with every previous action. "I normal summon **Spirit of Flames** (1700/1000) in attack mode, and activate **Shrink**." Suddenly, her **Chaos Hunter** became a cute chibi, a Japanese term that basically meant adorable mini-person if she remembered correctly, but widened her eyes at her monster's attack points.

"1250 attack points!" The drone nodded.

"Correct. It halves the attack points of any monster I pick, and your monster is my target. I send in my monster to attack it, who gains 300 attack points during the battle phase, putting him at 2000." Her **Chaos Hunter** was burnt alive by the fire the drone's monster released at it, making it scream before it became a flurry of pixels. She didn't even care about how she lost 750 life points, putting them at 8550. Oh no, she cared about how _real _that scream was, and wondered why it sounded more real than before. "I end my turn."

"I draw, normal summon **Dunames Dark Witch** (1800/1050), and attack your **Spirit of Flames**, destroying it!"

"100 life points gone makes little difference." The drone commented, causing Sal to frown before ending her turn. This allowed Barby to start hers, draw her card, and said nothing for a moment. That in itself was unlike her, as she, during the short time Stocking was around her in Daten High, was very vocal and didn't miss a chance to talk to anyone.

**_"I set one monster and attack your fangirl's Fairy, and with my Synchro monster's effect, neither of you can activate any spell or trap cards until the end of the damage step! Bring her down to the spider's nest my monster!"_** A web caught Sal's monster, forcing it to the Synchro despite its attempts to escape its bindings, and suddenly found fangs in its throat, destroying it instantly. Unlike her friend, who looked ready to kill Barby at any moment, she took notice of the 600 points of damage they took, putting them at 7950, which meant they were still ahead of Barby and her drone by a good margin. **_"I end my turn."_**

"Draw, and I activate **Mystical Space Typhoon**, destroying your drone's facedown card!"

"I chain that spell with **Anti-Magic Prism**, which allows me to select one card on the field, and destroy it. The card I pick is **Metal Reflect Slime**."

"No!" The silver slime monster was destroyed by a ray of blue light, leaving Sal defenseless to either of their opponents. If nothing went wrong for Stocking's next move, then they would only have to worry about one of the two opponents for a turn.

"I send my Chrononaut to attack your spirit, which destroys it!" The drone said nothing as her Xyz monster flew in and slammed the spirit's head to the ground, smothering it until it was destroyed. With them at 5200, they would hopefully run out of monsters and would allow for a direct attack from Sal or herself, which was what they needed.

"400 points of damage isn't much. Do you end?" Stocking nodded, allowing the drone to draw her card. "I normal summon another **Spirit of the Flame** (1700/1000) and attack your partner directly. When my monster attacks, it gains 300 attack points, putting it-"

"We fucking get it!" Sal shouted, only to scream moments later as a ball of fire struck her stomach, causing her to pat it out until the hologram dismissed itself. Now the gap between their life points were much closer, as they were now at 5950, which meant that she and Sal had to come up with a solution fast. "I draw and play **Heavy Storm**!"

**_"I chain with _**_Call of the Haunted_**_ special summoning my _**_Skull-Mark Ladybug_**_ (500/1500) in attack mode. Thanks to your spell, it is destroyed and we gain 1000 life points."_** A clever plan, Stocking was forced to admit, as Barby and her drone's life points were now at 6200, putting their opponents slightly above them.

"What you forget is that it destroys **The Supremacy Sun**, which is acting as an equip spell, putting it right to Stocking's graveyard. I set a card and end my turn."

**_"All that, and just to set a monster? It must be something game changing. My turn,"_** Barby drew her card, _**"and I send my **Underground Arachnid** to attack your facedown monster fangirl!"**_

"Aww, I didn't know you were so afraid of me Barby!" Stocking shouted, instantly catching the Ghost's attention. The look on her face showed that she was angry at her words, which was exactly what the Angel wanted. "Are you so afraid of me after what happened last time that you won't attack me? Where is your pride as a queen, hm?"

**_"I fear NOTHING! I'll attack your pathetic monster with my Arachnid!"_**

"And now you've fallen for my trap! I activate my Chronomaly's effect! By detaching one material from it, not only is he indestructible by battle or by card effects for a turn, but any battle damage I would take is taken by you instead!" She hoped that she could have used it against a stronger monster, but she wouldn't beg for any damage between them.

"Damn you!" Barby could only watch as a stick web was forced onto her, making her shiver as the web slithered off her.

_'5900 to 5950. We're only 50 points above them.'_ Stocking thought as she watched Barby pick up a card from her hand and smiled at her. She was going to set a trap for her wasn't she?

**_"Main phase two. I can normal summon _**_Reptilianne__Viper_**_ (0/0), use my _**_Underground Arachnid's_**_ effect to equip your Xyz monster to it, and tune my Synchro monster to my Viper in order to Synchro summon my level 8 Synchro monster _**_Red Dragon __Archfiend_**_(3000/2000) in attack mode!"_**

"No!" Stocking's surprise was something she couldn't hold back, nor could she hold in the fear across her face as Barby brought out a Synchro monster that, while unused by many, was still deadly in its own right, and she was facing it without anything on the field.

**_"During my end phase, all monsters that didn't attack are destroyed, and my set monster happens to be my second _**_Skull-Lady Bug_**_, granting us an additional 1000 life points, which places us at 6900. A wonderful number don't you think? Make your turn count, or else you shall lose within a turn or two."_**

"I won't lose so easily!" Stocking told her. On the inside; however, she was unsure as to if there was anything she could really do to stop such a powerful monster. If she _ever_ needed a "Heart of the Cards" moment, now would be the case, or else she and Sal would lose, and would practically be at the mercy of Barby and her drones! "I draw!" _'Come on! Come on!'_ The card she drew seemed to glow slightly, reminding her of when Steven drew his **Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord** card, and turned the card around to see what she drew. "Yes! I play **Monster Reborn**!"

**_"So what?"_** Barby asked with a sneer upon her face. **_"There is nothing in your graveyard worthy of standing up against my _**_Red Dragon __Archfiend_**_!"_** Stocking pointed at Barby, or more specifically, her graveyard, and grinned. Oh how could someone who watched the original Yu-Gi-Oh forget such an important effect?

"**Monster Reborn** allows me to pick a monster in EITHER player's graveyard and special summon it. So, queen bee, the one monster I want from your graveyard is your **Underground Arachnid** (2400/1200)!" The spider parasite appeared, still bound to a woman who had a strange mask upon her, and smiled at the unusual Synchro monster on her side of the field. "I activate her effect, allowing me to equip a monster on the opponent's side of the field to her, and I pick your **Red Dragon Archfiend**!"

**_"You-You can't do that!"_**

"Oh? Why can I not do it when you were able to do it to me, hm?" The pointless question was unanswered, leaving everyone to watch as a large web claimed the mighty dragon and forced it to assimilate onto the spider's back, granting her temporary Synchro its wings. "Now, **Underground Arachnid**, attack Barby directly with your Bite of Death!" What? Stocking could have a bit of fun naming attack too! It was more amusing to watch Barby take a direct attack from her monster though, which was why she found it hilarious to see the Ghost scream in fear as the spider took a "bite" of her shoulder before returning to the Angel's side of the field. "I end my turn."

"4500 life points still puts us in the game. I draw." The drone spoke up, though as to why she didn't have a clue. As soon as she drew her card, she summoned it. "I normal summon **Flame Armor Ninja** (1700/1000), and overlay it with Spirit of Flames in order to Xyz summon **Maestroke the Symphony Djinn** (1800/2300) in attack mode, and activate his effect. By detaching a material, I can make my queen's **Underground Arachnid**, which you are controlling, turn to facedown defense position and attack it!"

"Sorry," Stocking sent the **Red Dragon Archfiend** it had equip to it to Barby's graveyard, "but when **Underground Arachnid** is threatened by destruction, I can instead remove a monster equip to her so she isn't destroyed." The drone nodded and ended her turn. Sal, for once, smiled quite brightly and happily drew her card.

"I normal summon another **Dunames Dark Witch** (1800/1050), flip summon **The Forgiving Maiden** (850/2000), and overlay the two and Xyz summon **Number 39: Utopia** (2500/2000) and attack Barby directly!"

_'That is a very bad move!'_ Stocking would have attacked the drone, as its monster would allow it to, if it survived past her Underground Arachnid, to make Utopia go facedown, and attack over it, since it had to be face up to use its effect. Still, despite the mistake Sal made, to see Barby and her drone go down to 2000 life points was great for moral in her opinion.

**_"I am not done yet. I draw!"_** Barby shouted as she drew her card, eyes fixated on the Angel. **_"I normal summon _**_Mystic Tomato_**_ (1400/1100), and use it to attack your facedown _**_Underground Arachnid_**_!"_** Stocking simply tossed the card to Barby, knowing full well that she was now back to relying on her deck to give her a card she could use in this situation, and waited for the Ghost to end her turn. **_"Your move, Goth girl."_**

"Thanks. My turn. I end."

"Open target. I draw, set one card, and detach a material to make opponent's Number 39: Utopia go facedown, and attack directly." Getting a music note through the heart wasn't as nice of a feeling than most songs made them sound like, Stocking quickly realized, as she watched the Fiend Xyz monster stop his orchestra movements and noticed that they were now at 4150. "I end my turn."

"Good! My turn!" Sal must have drew something great, as she looked as if she was about to explode in joy. Now there was the old Sal that she knew and loved. "I set a monster, flip up my Utopia in attack mode, and attack over your Djinn monster!"

"Incorrect." The drone flipped the card it just set moments ago. "I activate **Butterflyoke**, which forces your monster into defense mode, equips itself to it, and allows me to control its battle position during either of our turns."

"What! No, that can't be right! Ugh, I end!" Sal's sudden good mood, for lack of a better word, quickly went back to the unusual normal of this duel, which was worrying Stocking more than it should have. She couldn't focus all on Sal; however, as it was now Barby's turn, which meant that anything could happen.

**_"My turn. I draw, turn _**_Mystic Tomato_**_ to defense mode, set a monster, and end my turn."_** And by anything, she also meant a normal stalling turn, which was unlike the Ghost at all. Still, Stocking wouldn't look a gift horse in its mouth. So she drew her card, signaling her turn, and set the card she was given. Even with Utopia being in control of Barby's drone, Sal could still use its effect to negate attacks, which was their current lifeline at the moment.

"I begin my turn." One card was added to the drone's hand, who nodded at it. "I will start things off by normal summoning **Magna Drago** (1400/600) in attack mode. My queen, do you mind if I borrow your **Mystic Tomato**?"

**_"Not at all my loyal drone."_** Barby replied with a smile. The drone nodded before pointing at it and at the monster she just summoned.

"I tune my level 2 monster to her level 4 monster in order to Synchro summon the Synchro monster known as **Iron Chain Dragon** (2500/1300) in attack mode. With that, my Queen gets the effect of **Mystic Tomato**, allowing her to special summon 1 Dark monster with 1500 or less attack in attack position." Barby took this moment to do just that, bringing out a **Sinister Sprocket** (400/0), a monster that Stocking never seen used in many plays, before noticing that the drone was about to begin talking. "I then send both of my monsters to attack Stocking directly."

"I will negate both of those attack with Utopia!" The drone nodded, forming a small smile on its face. Stocking wish she could have hinted to Sal that she had something, but she knew that Sal wouldn't listen to her hints unless she shouted it, so there was nothing she could do for the moment but wait and see what would happen.

"I end my turn then."

"I draw, normal summon **Spirit of the Harp** (800/2000), flip summon my second copy of her, and overlay them together in order to Xyz summon **Photon Papilloperative **(2100/1800) in attack mode!" A weird looking butterfly human appeared, though it was something that she, personally, wouldn't keep in her extra deck, as most of her opponents, by the time she brought it out, had nothing facedown to worry about. "I send my Photon monster to attack your Maestroke drone girl!"

"Acceptable." The 300 loss of life points didn't bother her at all, but it made Stocking happy that they were now at 1700 life points. Sal made a move to attack the **Sinister Sprocket** with her Utopia, only for it to be placed in defense mode thanks to Butterflyoke's effect, which was a trap card she was starting to consider adding to her deck. She had to take out a spell card or two anyway...

**_"It is my turn now, and I must say Stocking, you are quite the good duelist. But, against someone like me, you are nothing."_** Barby commented, laughing similar to Jessie from Pokemon before drawing her card. She smiled at it, but shook her head. **_"As nice as it is, it means nothing to me now. I flip summon _**_4-Starred Ladybug of Doom_**_, tune my 1 star _**_Sinister Sprocket_**_ to my three star Ladybug in order to Synchro summon my level 4 Synchro monster _**_Dark Diviner_**_ (2000/1000) in attack mode!"_** The new monster was a robed Fiend, using a red hood that spiked around its shoulders to hide its true face, but did nothing to hide its piercing red eyes from her. Sal turned to her and had a sad, depressing look upon her face.

"I'm sorry Stocking...I made us lose the duel." Stocking shook her head and stared directly at Barby's eyes. Hopefully she would pick up the bait.

"You did your best Sal, and we're still in this duel. So don't fear. It isn't as if Barby can win this duel in a single turn you know." Barby stomped her foot on the ground and pointed at her, jaw splitting to reveal the mandables that most insects had.

**_"I may not be able to defeat you in a single turn, but my loyal drone shall do it for me! I attack you directly with my _**_Dark Diviner_**_, and deal 2000 points of damage to you Stocking Anarchy!"_** Suddenly, the magical blast that came from the monster's brown staff shot itself at Barby, confusing her from her wonderful laugh and looked at her. The sight of her widening her eyes in shock made Stocking feel so much better, especially since it, ironically enough, was practically the same way that she defeated her first opponent of the day. _"M-Magic Cylinder?"_

"Sorry Barby, but that is game." As soon as she said that, both Barby and her drone looked at their life point counter, and realized that, with the 2000 attack points the **Dark Diviner** had, their 1700 had no chance of surviving the attack, making them lose the match. Sal cheered and hugged her, causing the Angel to hug her back and, for a brief moment, enjoy the sight of her friend being as happy as she was before the incident with that Aqua guy. The duel was a long one, and challenging too, but she was happy to have Sal help her when she needed it, and wouldn't have wished the duel to happen any other way. A loud, obvious cough made the two girls pull away and turn to the source, revealing Barby and her drone walking towards her. The holograms had already disappeared, and Barby stared at her for an intense minute, a minute that left Stocking defenseless with Sal still being in her line of movement, before watching as Barby nodded.

**_"A deal is a deal, and as a queen I am to hold to my bargain. While I was in Daten High, a pair of Demons came up to me and offered me a deal. In exchange for giving them soldiers under my command, they would allow me to live under their utopia when they took over Daten City in several months. I agreed, but kept my bees hunting for information about these Demons and their deal, doing my side of the agreement and gave them soldiers. At least, until a pair of Angels "killed me" and forced the soldier production. My bees; however, remained and fed me information about the tool of their destruction, the Ultimate Ghost, sealed somewhere within this city, and are on a side mission to find the key to release it."_**

"The...Ultimate Ghost?" Sal and Stocking said at the same time. The thought of an Ultimate Ghost was frightening, considering as it was vague of what it could look like, but left one term to explain that it would be powerful beyond all measure. That, Stocking knew, would be an opponent she wouldn't be looking forward to fighting against.

**_"That particular Ghost is what they will claim, but what I just found out is that there is a third Demon that just arrived in Daten City, unknowingly to the two that came to me before. She is looking around the city, dueling, but for what reason I do not know, and is the main person you must look out for. She isn't as law abiding as the others are, and is ruthless in her duels, as she is a true Demon from what one of my bees caught of her."_** With that, she, as well as her drone dueling partner, opened their wings and flew next to the other and her human construct, causing a loud, echo of buzzing to suddenly erupt all around them. A flurry of something came towards them, forcing Stocking to push Sal to the ground and protected her friend's body with her own.

_'What the hell is happening!'_ Though she felt many, many things brush up against her skin, no pain met her way, and waited for the weird sensation to stop before she opened her eyes, seeing that the roof was bare of any signs of Barby's hive or her drones. She helped Sal off the ground, apologizing for her quick action, and checked her and their cards for any signs of damage, only to come up empty of anything. A single vibration caught her attention, causing the Angel to pick up her phone and saw that Brief was calling, and answered it. "Brief?"

**"Stocking-chan! Where are you? I've been looking for you the past twenty minutes, and I heard of an intense Ghost invasion in one of the stores in the shopping area you were in! Are you or Sal hurt?"**

"No, we're...fine." Stocking looked around, her eyes looking at the roof door and the stairs they would have to walk down. "Lets meet up at the Card Buffet so we can talk about what happened." Stocking didn't allow him to say anything before hanging up, taking a look at Sal before pointing at the door. "Come on, we have a long way to walk, and a lot to tell Brief." Despite how calm she looked on the outside, her mind was running a mile a second, thinking of many ideas and trying to find a memory to base it upon. The fact that two Demons came up to Barby meant that Scanty and Kneesocks came to Daten City much earlier than she or Garterbelt expected, possibly around the same time that they first entered the city. This third Demon is another problem, considering how Barby seemed fearful of her, and the fact that she is supposedly a duelist meant that she could be trying to do something to those that lost against her.

That is, if Barby was telling the truth and didn't make up something to keep her off her trail. Anything that took actual effort to destroy was a problem, but something that was immortal and could swap bodies was an opponent Stocking wasn't exactly sure she would willingly fight, especially if the opponent also had access to an army. She knew that, one day, she would HAVE to hunt Barby down, but the main question was would she have to do it alone, seeing as Panty prefers to go chase after guys than to hunt and purify Ghosts.

_'Why does everything have to happen around me?'_ Was all Stocking thought before she closed the roof door, making the long journey down to the main floor with Sal right behind her.

-Author Note-

Hello everyone! As usual, I don't own Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh in any way, shape, or form, though I do have a few binders of cards, a Stocking key chain, and the first season box set. With that out of the way, hello everyone, and I do hope that you readers, reviewers, and followers enjoyed this chapter as much as I have! It was annoying once the duel got to adding the 50 in Stocking & Sal's life points, as that throws the calculator off from time to time, but I got over it. I'm surprised at the length of this chapter, which means that I either have to stop making so many extra scenes in each chapter, or I need to somehow cut the duels down to a smaller size. I'll have to think more on that, so if you dislike the new length of the recent chapters, I apologize!

With that said, is anyone surprised at Barby making a comeback? Its one of those ideas that came to me as I was making the Insect deck for a girl who knew Sal and picked on her during their days in High School, revealing that Sal was a drop out, but I figured that I would reveal such information in a different manner, one that no one is likely to expect soon. So, with Barby, if any of you have read my story The Queen and Her Drone, you should know that I enjoy Barby's character and, out of all the Ghosts in the series, she should have been the mid-boss to be revealed and defeated in episode 6, allowing for the Akuma sisters to be revealed at the end, and have Corset make his appearance in D.C. Confidential. Sadly, that obviously didn't happen, but the thought of Barby being in this story and running a cliché deck like Insects, to match her Ghost "theme" if you will, wouldn't escape my head. I was sad that her deck didn't bring out **Insect Queen**, but I was happy nonetheless for her to bring out Underground Arachnid too, as it can be a big pain in the rear to get rid of. Oh yes, for those of you who may be wondering, **4-Starred Ladybug of Doom** is actually a level 3 monster, not a level 4. The main reason it is called that is because when it is flipped, all level 4 monsters your opponent controls are destroyed. A deadly card to come across, don't you think?

Now, with that, time for the reviews!

**The Lord Of Pages:** Actually, it is ironic that you bring up Gx, as I recently went to a library book sale and found one of those novelization of the series, dealing with Night Shroud and Professor Banner if I recall correctly. But, sadly, your theory about the gentle darkness is incorrect for Sal, though the Cruel Light you mention is something to keep in mind. I do hope you like Barby's Insect deck, though I am unsure if I should add **Millennium Scorpion** or not, considering there aren't any "safe" moments, if you will, to actually do a good tribute summon with her particular deck. Either way, I'm glad to see your review!

**Blood Brandy:** It is funny to see you mention Hitman Reborn, as I am trying to sell or trade away the first seven manga, and am having no success with it. Still, I thank you for the review, and I am glad to see that you enjoyed Brief acting more serious than his anime counterpart. Keep that in mind, but as to why I shall not reveal.

**HotelKatz: **I thank you for your review, and Sal is, lets just say, being swayed to be something that she isn't, but not by the Akuma sisters. The true enemy is someone who isn't expected just yet. Or are they?

**Cronage:** I am quite pleased to hear that you enjoy how I type out the duels. I'm glad that I'm not going overboard, especially since it takes a bit of time and effort to make a decent balanced deck like I am for all the important characters in this story, so hearing you say that means quite the bit.

To all of the readers and followers: Thank you for taking the time to read the latest chapter, and I do hope to see you read this one as well! As usual, thank you all for reading, and I do hope to see **_reviews_** from you all. Until next time!


	14. Arc 2: The Rightful Owner

"Fak! None of these will do!" Panty was happy that the sun was starting to go down for the day, as it meant less people were out in the dueling part of the city and were heading back home. The lack of duelists gave her a chance to finally look through the decks and extra cards she won off her opponents, and most of them were fucking junk! That mob boss reject's deck was the worst of the bunch, even with the **Number 17: Leviathan Dragons** and the rest of his extra deck, she wished that she got a hold of the _other_ deck box she saw the reject had on him, knowing full well that it had a much better deck in it.

As for the other cards, the ones that _weren't_ pieces of shit at least, left her in a complicated pickle of picking between them. The first duelist she went up against was a T.G. player, so it was from that tall, thin toothpick that she was able to pick up some of the T.G. monster cards and put them in her deck, but what she enjoyed best were the few Synchros the kid had. **T.G. Hyper Librarian**, **T.G. Wonder Magician**, an ultimate 1st edition might she add, and a **T.G. Power Gladiator** were the main spoils from that deck, though she didn't deny the beat up **Red Dragon Archfiend** she got from him too. Each of the Synchro monsters were fairly strong despite their level, even if the shiny T.G. was a bit short in points, but what pissed her off was that she rarely brought them out!

The second deck was a Psychic player, who was able to take out some card called Grandsoil before she took what was rightfully hers, and enjoyed the spoil of monsters that were now hers. Gustos interested her, especially since they reminded her so much of the Harpie Lady deck she took a shine to, but out of the entire extra deck she got from the deck, she only liked **Daigusto Sphreez**, **Thought Ruler Archfiend**, **Hyper Psychic Blaster**, and **Magical Android**. Sure, she didn't mind the **Daigusto Gulldos **or the **Psychic Lifetrancer**, but she didn't want to fucking remove her own creatures for some life gain, especially when her Android and Archfiend did that for her each turn!

Despite the mob reject's deck being the third one she acquired today, she didn't count it as anything more but scrap, and left the main deck for some little boy who wanted to play the game with a duel disk. Even _she_ could be kind for a moment or two, but she was just glad to get rid of that shitty deck! The fourth deck was a weird blend of Light and Dark monsters that she separated everything by element, spell, and trap rather than read everything unorganized, and found herself a second **Ancient Fairy Dragon**, which made the complicated deck a bit worthwhile. Maybe she'd give this particular copy to that one girl, as an apology for taking the original one she had?

"Still doesn't solve my fucking problem with my deck though..." The blonde whispered to herself, glaring at each card as if they stopped her from reaching an orgasim. Well, except for one card, but she would get to that in a moment. Her current problem was the extra deck, as she could only have fifteen cards in it, and having a side was useless in a one round dueling tournament! She knew that, from the start, two of the Synchro monsters she had from the start were **Gravity Warrior** and **Orient Dragon**, two monsters that were neither all that strong or useful unless she had another Tuner monster in hand to make them into something else, and would have replaced them if it weren't for their effects. **Orient Dragon**, when Synchro summoned, banishes a Synchro monster that your opponent controls, which, while more useless in an era of Xyz monsters, was still good to have on hand since she knew that Brief, her sister's boyfriend to be, ran them religiously, and knew that the good players would run Synchros.

**Gravity Warrior**, on the other hand, was more "splashable" she believed the term was, as it got stronger for each face up monster the opponent controlled. With its starting 2100, it meant that it could potentially have 3600 attack, and it also flipped face-down cards and made them attack during your opponent's battle phase, the only saving grace that kept it in her extra deck. From there, she could take out her second copy of **Vortex Whirlwind** and **Dragunity Knight - Trident**, but Vortex was her favorite Synchro monster, and the Tridents had different rarities! She didn't know what exactly a "Duel Terminal" was, but she was very well interested in keeping both cards in the extra deck, which made everything more fucking complicated for her in the end.

_'Why couldn't Stocking fall for something easier, like the Pokemon games? I always had a crush on James...'_ Yu-Gi-Oh was one of the most headache inducing games to exist, and she could very well find herself with a migraine worse than any hangover she felt before! _'At least I'm not adding a second **Ancient Fairy Dragon**, or that **Red Dragon Archfiend**, since I run plenty of monsters that went in defense mode from time to time, and didn't want to lose it to some stupid effect condition.'_ Some cards, like that one, were just stupidly designed like Stocking's monkey donut outfit! _'I could take out the T.G. cards, but I Synchro summon a lot so I want to keep Librarian, Gladiator allows me to get a free card when it is destroyed by any means as well as inflicts piercing, and Magician is a Tuner, allowing me to go for the larger monsters like **Thought Ruler Archfiend **or **Stardust Dragon**.'_

**Stardust Dragon**, out of all the Synchro monsters, was one of the harder ones to bring out, sure, but ever since she obtained the card she found herself summoning it more and more, usually with the aid of **Vortex the Whirlwind** and **Influence Dragon**, and couldn't help but to consider picking up a second one. She also heard of its other forms, **Shooting Star Dragon** and **Shooting Quasar Dragon**, but she didn't have the time to find the Synchros, the money to buy them, or the patience to think of a way to bring out three Synchro monsters just to bring the mighty twelve star monster out for play. If she activated a card that allowed her to lower down all of the monster's levels by two for a turn, she MAY be able to do it, but why devise plans for a card that she didn't fucking own?

"So what am I going to take out, the Xyz monsters?" As much as she loved Maestroke, it was practically a fling between them, and Blackship of Corn was useful, don't get her wrong, but she didn't really care for its free blow up effect, as most of the more troublesome monsters were higher than Blackship's attack limit. She COULD find a way to boost its attack, but it wasn't worth changing her deck around for just a single card that wouldn't end games. "I'll take out Blackship and Gladiator. Hell, might as well take out **Gravity Warrior** too while I'm at it, seeing as I rarely bring him out anyway, but I may do the same thing for Orient Dragon too." A small hint of wind passed by her cheek, causing her to shiver as a flyer landed on top of her cards. She picked it up, curiosity now stroking her, and felt her brain heat up in thought. If she couldn't decide as to what to run, or if she was missing out on a particular card of interest, maybe it was time to check out a place that would have everything she needed and more. Possibly too much for her to handle?

A place, like the Card Buffet?

-Chapter 14: The Rightful Owner-

Sal sighed as she looked through yet another Light monster binder in the Card Buffet, Brief's card shop that she and her friends were going to spend the night in since the city was under lockdown for the tournament. Her friends in question were talking in the other room about Barby, one of Stocking's old enemies that should have been dead, but for some reason was not. As much as she wanted to sit in on her friend's meeting and listen to what they had to say about this particular Ghost, she decided to spend her time to do something she knew would bring her sullen mood up.

Working on her deck.

It was okay, she would admit to herself, as it was quite trap happy and ran a Light build that not many people would use, if at all ever consider. It relied on Rescue Rabbit to bring out two level four monsters, and proceeded to Xyz summon something, usually a Utopia unless she was able to summon a level four monster on the previous turn, allowing her access to **Number 16: Shock Master** or **Vylon Disigma**. She rarely brought them out, nearly as rare as Tiras, so she knew that she needed some other kind of heavy hitter that would make it easy for her to defeat her opponent with ease. She thought that **Splendid Venus** would be that ace in the hole, considering it was made strictly to weaken non-Fairy type monsters, as well as made all of her spells and traps immune to negation, but she ran into the same issue that she did with her Xyz monsters that required three materials.

Then, out of her first duel in the tournament, her inspiration came to her. Why not run Synchro monsters? Those particular brand of monsters were out of her time, considering she came back into dueling during the Xyz era, though that particular fact didn't matter at this point. Xyz monsters were useful until their materials were gone, then they were just a simple, normal beater; however, Synchro monsters held their effects. Effects that could be broken, or just simply unfair to the point of flipping a table in response. If she could build a good deck that could create a Synchro monster with ease, possibly one every turn, then she knew that her chances of an easy win would increase tenfold!

Sadly, she didn't find much in terms of Light Tuner monsters, and the ones she did find were ones that didn't necessarily belong to any particular archtype. **Barrier Resonator**, a Light level 1 Fiend Tuner allowed her to discard it during either player's turn to select a Tuner on her side of the field and make the selected monster impossible to destroy by battle, as well as not take any battle damage from it as well. **Uni-Horned Familiar**, a level 2 Beast Tuner monster that allowed her to remove it and another monster she controlled in order to bring it back her next standby phase. Her only interest in the card was for its Tuner stat, as well as its Light affinity, as the only exception in her deck was **Rescue Rabbit** and, to be fair, **Metal Reflect Slime**.

She was able to find two Vylon monsters, **Vylon Sphere** and **Vylon Stella**, but she didn't want to use too many of them, as her deck would quickly be called the "Vylon" deck, and she wanted to be original, not some copycat. The final Tuner she found was **Trust Guardian**, which impressed her by its level three status and its effect to, in exchange for lowering the attack and defense of the Synchro monster it was used for by 400, the monster wasn't destroyed by battle. The downside of using it was that it could only be used for level 7 or higher Synchros, and the loss of points was permanent, which made her wonder if running the card was actually worth it.

It was then that she looked over at the Synchro monsters she pulled out from a previous binder and felt her sigh grow louder in return. Sal was hoping that Brief would have an **Ancient Fairy Dragon** in stock, but she could understand as to why she couldn't find the card in stock, considering it was easy to create and its effect was very useful, even if she didn't have a field spell in her deck at the moment. Even without that particular dragon, she made do with two **Light End Dragons**, who made the opponent's monster that battled with it lose 1500 attack and defense until the end phase, in exchange for her monster losing a permanent 500 attack and defense. **Lightning Warrior**, a monster she knew Brief used, was one she instantly looked for, as hand traps were still important in today's game, and she would use it to her advantage.

Her final two monsters, **Vylon Alpha** and **Vylon Delta**, each had a unique effect that relied on equip cards. Delta, for example, brought one out if it was in face-up defense mode, which was easy since its defense was 2800, which was her "wall" if you will. Alpha, on the other hand, was the reason she picked Vylon Sphere as a Tuner, as it required a "Vylon" Tuner, unlike the other Vylon Synchro, but its effect was worth it. It, when Synchro summoned, could pick any equip spell card and brought equip it to her monster, and made it immune to destruction from any spell and trap cards in the process, though this meant that she would have to protect her equip cards better than ever.

Which was a problem, considering she didn't run any.

_'I don't even think I have much room to add any equip cards into my deck.'_ Sal looked through her scattered cards again, taking out Reinforcements and placed it on top of her "removed" stack of cards. The current count of that pile was five, placing her at thirty-five cards, but if she considered the Tuner monsters she was going to add, she would be at forty-two cards, a number she was okay with at the moment. She looked over to Victoria, the card that allowed her to beat Devon, saving her from paying him for the damages to the door of his car, as well as reclaimed Brief's card for a short time, and slowly added it to the pile. It was useful, but its main effect was too situational, and its attack negation fell short since she didn't have a second copy to make a wall, a tactic that was done with **Magician's Valkyria **and **Golem Dragon** from time to time.

It was then, after picking up her **Tethys, Goddess of Light** that she saw a card that had been plaguing her thoughts since she saw it in her hand during her duel against Barby and her drone. She didn't know as to how it got into her deck, nor did she even realize it was in there until she drew it during the duel, but it wasn't just that oddity that scared her. No, it was the fact that the card was the same deity that appeared to her in her dreams, reminding her of what she saw within it, and wondered as to _why_ it was in her deck in the first place.

_'Just get rid of it!'_ She told herself, looking at the card with a frown on her face. It was just a piece of cardboard, and one that wasn't used as much anymore anyway. _'It doesn't belong in your deck anyway, or run with the theme at all.'_

**"Must theme always matter my dear?"** A voice popped in her mind. She looked around, hoping that it was Stocking whispering to her from somewhere in the shop, but she didn't see her at all. Actually, she heard her still talking to Brief in the other room, so where did the voice come from.

_'Ignore it! Just put the card in the binder and leave it.'_

**"You mean like how your so called friends might leave you one day?"** Just ignore the voice Sal, she told herself as she looked through another binder that had some common spell cards and began looking for some equip spells. If she didn't have to use the Vylon specific equip cards, then she would happily stick to some normal ones, but she hoped that she had an actual CHOICE in the matter. **"Oh, as if you would have a choice if they wanted you around or not."**

_'I would too, as I respect them and they respect me.'_ Sal replied in thought, pulling an equip card she liked and hoped to find a second copy of it. She hoped that her newest buid would leave her opponents crying in her dust as she beats them with ease, a sight that made her smile in odd joy before flipping some pages.

**"Or so you think. If you were fully confident in yourself, then what the Ghost said wouldn't have effected you so easily."** The voice replied, causing her to pause with the page in hand. The duel against Barby and her drone was long, much longer than her own against Devon, and the reason she honestly believed was because she kept on screwing up. Her starting hand was nothing but spells and traps, but they helped stall and gave them a life point boost, which was fine. What she messed up in was allowing Barby's insults to get to her, calling her a fangirl or Brief's replacement in order to get her to misplay and fall for the Ghost girl's traps. As if to add more salt to the wound, she, in her moment of having the upper hand, attacked Barby directly when she should have destroyed the Drone's Maestroke, preventing the future destruction of some monsters and life points, but she didn't.

_'I was stressed. Anyone would make some misplays during a stressful situation like the one I was in.'_

**"Is that what you truly believe, or an excuse you're telling yourself to pass this issue off?"**

"Shut...Shut up." She mumbled, pulling out a few more cards before she began counting her cards. She didn't enjoy the fact that she now had so many spell cards in the deck, nor did she truly find it amusing that her deck now had forty six cards within it, so now she was stuck trying to trim it down. Did she really need the **Barrier Resonators** since most of her other monsters were level four, making it pointless to have a level one Tuner when she had no level five Synchros?

**"That is because you ignore the other monsters that exist. For example..." **The binder suddenly moved, causing her to let the page she held go and, in its place, a new binder appeared, revealing a set of monsters that she previously encountered earlier in the day. Their play style wasn't what she was use to, but, from a duelist perspective, they WOULD be the best choice, considering their differences in levels.

"The Fableds?"

**"You've already taken into your fold a Fiend, so why not a few more?"** Her throat tightened at the monsters in front of her, her duel with Devon coming back with not a single detail missing. How flawless his deck worked, and the faulty chops in her own that seemed much more obvious than ever before replayed themselves to her, uncaring for the tears that threatened to fall. Was she **_always_** that bad of a duelist? No, she wasn't a bad duelist at all! She was improving herself and her deck!

"Sal, are you okay?" She quickly placed her hand over her mouth, turning around to see Brief looking at her with a concerned look. She was unsure as to if she saw the light in his eyes change or not, but she, for some reason, thought he was looking at her with pity. She was NOT someone to be pitied!

"I'm fine Brief." She replied quickly. He didn't go back to the other room right away like she wanted, so she looked at the table and smiled. "I'm just doing some more tune ups on my deck. I dueled against someone today and got a C-Ring out of it, but it showed me that I have to adapt to the current level of decks that are out there."

"Ah, I'll leave you to it Sal. Just know that I'm here to help you if you need it." Despite the fact that he waited until she nodded before leaving back to the other room, she felt unsatisfied by his reply, even if it was unnecessary. He should have just nodded and left, not saying a single thing. Was he just trying to be nice, or was hoping to tutor her, showing just how wrong she was? She looked back down at the binder, only to notice that it was gone, and in its place were a few cards that she wouldn't have personally picked, but added them to her deck anyway. It was just a test deck at the moment right? She could change the deck at any point that she wanted, as long as the deck proved to be worse than her previous one. She pulled out the **Barrier Resonators** and swapped them with the new cards she was provided, and noticed her Tethys looking at her with a small frown upon its face.

_'Did she always have that frown on her artwork?'_ She looked at the card for a moment longer, taking in the odd feeling she got from it before getting to work on shuffling the deck the way Stocking taught her. The way she did it was graceful, as if her fingers were dancing with each card as she guided them to their new spot in her deck. _'Then again, it must have its perks being an Angel of **HEAVEN**.'_

* * *

"Look, I can tell you that the Ultimate Ghost is something that has been rumored for many years in the occult cults, but as to where in Daten City its resting place is unknown. Its been said that there were several seals for the Ghost, as it was the size of the Earth's core, meaning that even IF you somehow find this seal and make it impossible to open, the enemy can just find another seal and open THAT one."

"I know that." Stocking replied, taking her eyes off Brief to look at the soda he gave her. He could tell that she wasn't happy about fighting some kind of mega powerful Ghost. To be fair, no sane individual would be happy about such a possibility, but the way she was reacting was unnecessary, considering he was just trying to help her see the light of the situation and calm down.

"So don't worry about the information Barby gave you. Report it to one of the higher ups in Heaven, or call Garterbelt so he can if you don't want to deal with the paperwork, and relax. You look as if you haven't had any time to take a relaxing bath or watch some television to laugh at." Stocking gave him an odd look, one that reminded him of Panty when she would stare at him after he gave her a compliment. He knew that such a look promised an odd comment, so he took a breath and asked. "What?"

"Television. Really? I know your jumpsuit is about three decades out of style, but really?" And there it was. The oh so common jumpsuit insult, just another part of the common day for Briefers Rock. He was going to reply, either with a chuckle or a smile and say something about being respectful and it was how he was taught, when Stocking stood up and grabbed her soda. "You're right though. I should call Garterbelt and inform him of the situation before calling one of the Archangels, letting the scholars or the barrier teams deal with this issue. Now what was this about a relaxing bath?" He should have known that she would try to take advantage of the shower, as a girl felt best in solitude when they were stressed. Then again, it wasn't as if she didn't earn the stress she dealt with today, so he understood.

"Go through the back here and you'll find the stairs that lead up to the small apartment I consider my home. One of my robes should be in the bathroom for you to cover yourself up with after you're done. I'll let you wash your own clothes once you're out of the bathroom."

"Thanks Brief." Stocking spoke in a low, gentle tone. The smile that was on her face made him smile with a light hint of red upon him, not that she would be able to notice with his hair in front of his face. "It really means a lot to me."

"N-Never a problem Stocking-chan." He watched as she went upstairs, smiling to himself as he looked at the laptop that was beside him of all the leads about the Ultimate Ghost that appeared on it. Most of them were dead, outdated sites that haven't been updated in years, leaving them to be clicked out; however, two sites, out of the sixty that popped up, were quite interesting, and were in need of further reading. It was then that he felt a sudden small spike of dark energy, something that was a kin to the skill that he had, and walked into the main room of the Card Buffet. His eyes fell on Sal, who just closed one of the many binder of cards that his shop organized, and walked up to her. There was something wrong with her, though what exactly he couldn't tell, but her deck was glowing an unusual color, a color that he wouldn't associate with a girl like her.

Her deck took on the glow of black, and that in itself made Brief worry for his friend.

"Oh, hey Brief. Is something the matter?" Sal sounded happy, possibly content with a hint of tiredness in her voice. Whether that was the truth or not Brief didn't know, but he didn't want to tip his hand to her just yet.

"I'm fine Sal. I was just telling Stocking about the shower upstairs. You are more than welcome to use it after she is done, as well as watch some television out here."

"This place doubles as an apartment?" Sal asked with a raised eyebrow. The sound of sprinkling water made his point, followed by a rather loud "EEP" from the Angel in question. That, for one reason or another, made her smile and grin. "As long as Stocking doesn't use up all the hot water, I'll take you up on that shower deal. Does this place have a washer and dryer as well? I need to clean my other set of clothes." Brief took the time to lead her to the laundry room, which was in the basement of the shop where most of the product and cleaning supplies were located, and quickly explained the basic settings of the washer, since it was much newer than the drier. As he watched her go back upstairs to grab her bag of dirty clothes, he felt something call out to him from above. A small frown took place on his face as he recognized the feeling that slowly came towards the shop, and could only wonder why it was calling out to him. As he took a few steps upstairs, Sal stopped in front of the steps with her bag of clothes, looking at him with a worried expression. "Something the matter Brief?"

"No!" Brief faked a laugh, changing the frown to a surprised look to help his case. "I'm, well, hungry! I haven't realized until a second ago that I haven't really eaten anything filling since we left the church, so I'm gonna go out and get us some Chinese from down the block. Do you want anything different, or do you want the regular sweet and sour chicken?"

"Hmmmmm, that does sound pretty good right about now. Can I get some shrimp fried rice too?"

"Sure. I'll get Stocking her usual beef and brocoli with a side of crab rangoon and call it a meal. I'll see you in a bit Sal." Sal was nice enough to let him up the stairs first, allowing him to walk back to the room and waited for his friend to enter the basement before quickly grabbing his duel disk and left the shop. The familiar feeling grew levels beyond what he felt while inside the shop, and ran down the alley, jumping over a fallen trash can that was in his way before making a right. There was only one person who he could see walking down the nearly abandoned street, with the exception of a few cars every now and again, and the sight of the individual made him glare at the person's direction. When he saw that they were about to turn the opposite way, facing an alley to escape from his sight, he felt that feeling take hold and didn't care about being subtle.

"PANTY!" The person stopped, turning back around to reveal the person's face to him, as well as the shocked look they now wore. The look changed from shocked to happy in an instant, though it made no difference to him as he walked to the exact point of the sidewalk on the parallel she stood at.

"Oi, Geek Boy! I was just looking for your shop to see if, eh..." Panty stopped to think, he assumed, though why she would have to stop to finish a simple sentence was beyond him. "If my sister was with you! I haven't been able to get into contact with her all day."

_'Bullshit,'_ Brief thought as he looked at her duel disk. A standard issue duel disk, though hers seemed to have a weird color combination between green and white, though why those particular colors he didn't understand. What he did understand was the feeling that made him leave the shop was in there, more specifically the extra deck, and knew that what the thug told him was true.

Panty Anarchy was participating in this tournament, and she also had his **Stardust Dragon**.

"I can take you to the shop in a minute, but I want to ask you something first!"

"Maa, ask me something?" Panty smirked and pressed her hands against her breasts, leaning forward to show off a little cleavage for him, he assumed. Why she did this, he didn't know. "If you want me to flash you in exchange for being such a knight in shining armor, I can do that, and more~" He shook his head and pointed to her duel disk. She noticed where he was pointing at and suddenly hid the device behind her back, though some of the "wing" of the duel disk peeked behind her shoulder. "I'm holding onto that for a friend of mine! He had to go to the hospital to see his sister, and asked for me to duel in his place!"

"Bullshit Panty!"

"Oi, fucker!" Panty spat at his direction before she gave him the middle finger. Real smooth Panty. Real smooth. "It is the truth!"

"So why have I been hearing that you've been taking people's decks after you defeat them?" Her face suddenly went from anger to surprise and worry. He knew what she didn't want known, and was about to call it right now. "Why is it that you've been dueling people with an ante?"

"You know what? Fine!" Panty brought her duel disk forward, waving her arm as if she was saying goodbye to someone. "I just started dueling okay! I need cards, but didn't want to waste my time buying packs!" He nodded, slightly uncaring for the reason as to why she was taking people's cards as part of her win, but nodded nonetheless. What he wanted to know was why she had **that** card.

"If that is the case, then why did you take my **Stardust Dragon** from Sal after you defeated Aqua and his thug huh!?" Panty glared at him with the intensity of a thousand suns, but it didn't bother him as much as he thought such a sight would have. He never, while he was crushing on the blonde Angel, pictured him yelling at her with such anger in his voice, but it seemed that he got over his crush long ago, and he was glad he did. It sucked trying to do what was right when you held yourself back when it was the person you loved that was the issue. "I know what happened, straight from Aqua and his little henchman himself, that you took the cards after they were defeated. The thug, surprisingly, put the two Synchro monsters on Sal's chest, so why did you take them?"

"Fuckin A, FINE!" Panty shouted, pointing at herself. "I took the two cards okay! Is that what you wanted to hear Geek Boy? I took them because Sal is a shit duelist and wouldn't use the cards to their fullest potential, even if she had all of the tips and tricks to how to use them written out for her and had a tutor standing right behind her!" THAT pissed Brief off, considering he just saw Sal work on her deck, caring for it like a true duelist did. Panty had no right to say anything bad about Sal, who always took the time to better herself and saw her own flaws and corrected them.

"Sal isn't a bad duelist!"

"I know. She is a shitty player of the game that doesn't know shit about her cards, and you know it too!" As if to prove her point, she activated her duel disk and forced her deck to shuffle. Why she did this, he didn't know, but had a bad feeling about the next thing that was going to come out of her mouth. "She is a shit duelist because she doesn't really care for her cards! She is the one who is the crap duelist, not her cards, so why should she change her deck around when it is her mental state of the dueling world and her strategy she has to change? She is a Xyzer, not a Synchro girl, so why would she even NEED an **Ancient Fairy Dragon** in her deck huh! I didn't know that this was your Stardust, but I've been using it all day, and I have grown attached to this card to the point of not caring if it was your card or the president's fucker! If you want it, you're gonna have to kill me for this!"

"How about a duel?" Brief asked in a cold tone. He wasn't going to go easy on the Angel just because she was Stocking's sister, and he had his actual deck with him as well, which meant that she was going to feel some real pain in a moment. "If I win, I get back my **Stardust Dragon** and the **Ancient Fairy Dragon** you took from Sal and you can do whatever you wanted. If you win, on the other hand, I'll not only allow you to get some of the best cards from my shop for free, but I'll even give you access to stuff that shouldn't exist in the TCG yet. Do we have a deal?" Panty suddenly smirked at him, placing her hand on her deck and, unknowingly to her, was enveloped in a pink and green aura, giving her a spiritual look he never saw her have before.

"I don't need no win condition to beat you Geek Boy! It is partially your fault that I'm interested in this shit anyway, so I'll be paying you back in full for it!" Brief couldn't stop himself from glaring at the blonde, nor did he fully realize that he was developing a small, golden glow upon his skin that made him look lighter than he already was. All he knew was that he was going to get back his **Stardust Dragon** from her now! "And I'll be going first, since you challenged me you bastard. I draw!" Brief didn't like how she just took control of the duel before it even began, but he liked the basic start of his hand, so he didn't mind it that much. "I activate **Harpies' Hunting Ground**, and normal summon **Harpie Lady 3** (1300/1400)!" The road suddenly disappeared, replacing the scenery with a circle of mountains with the ground he stood on taking a brown hue. As soon as the field spell took effect, a tall, blue haired Harpie appeared, spreading her green wings towards him in a menacing manner, though he didn't care one bit at the theatrics. "Like that? She also gets a small boost from my field spell, bumping her up to 1500! I set two cards down before ending my turn shit stain!"

"Is that all?" Brief could easily tell that she had traps in hand, most likely a **Trap Hole** or a Bottomless, but she had been taking cards from her opponents all day, which was something he considered. Not that it mattered of course. "I draw, and discard my **Zubaba Knight** in order to special summon **Quickdraw Synchron **(700/1400), and I also bring out **Shield Warrior** (800/1600), and use them to Synchro summon **Chevalier De Fleur** (2700/2300) in attack mode!" his cowboy machine and proud defensive warrior were soon replaced by a proud, female knight under his command who glared at Panty as if sensing her sinful actions. With this out, he didn't have to worry so much about whatever her back row would be. "I send my warrior to attack your Harpie!"

"Not so fast fucker!" Panty flipped one of her cards, only for a flurry of pink flower petals to slice the card, destroying it. She looked up at him with one of the angriest looks he ever saw on her face. "What da fak Geek Boy!"

"Once per turn, my **Chevalier De Fleur** can not only negate one spell or trap card you use, but will destroy it as well. If you don't have anything else, the attack still follows through!" Fleur appeared in front of the Harpie in an isolated blizzard of petals, cutting her in half before the Winged Beast even had a chance to scream. Losing 1200 life points was a bad way for someone to start a duel off, which meant that, hopefully, Panty would screw up and give him an even better opening for him to take advantage of. "I'll set one card and end my turn."

"Oh, so just because you have a Synchro monster makes you believe that you're safe? Think again fucker!" Panty drew her card, glancing at her hand the moment the lone card was introduced to the others, and grinned. She should have a better poker face if she was going to start dueling, as it told him that she had a "surprise" waiting for him. "I set two cards and summon **Harpie's Baby Pet Dragon** (1200/600) in attack mode before ending my turn!" A small, chibi dragon that had a collar around its neck and an elegant head piece appeared in front of the Angel, causing him to wonder just what kind of trap card she believed would protect her monster.

_'Did she forget what my Fleur does?'_ "My turn," Brief drew his card and held back a smirk, "I'll start things off by discarding my **Goblin Attack Force** from my hand in order to special summon my second **Quickdraw Synchron** (700/1400), and I activate **Monster Reborn** in order to special summon **Zubaba Knight** (1600/900) in attack mode!" His two monsters looked at him with a nod, already knowing what he was going to do with them, and smiled. They were one of his important keys to his deck, and he always took great care of them, even if they were only common cards. "I then send them to the graveyard in order to Synchro summon **Junk Destroyer** (2600/2500) in attack mode!"

"I activate **Adhesion Trap Hole**!" One of the many underappreciated **Trap Hole** related cards in the game, but one that he didn't have to worry about. A very wasteful play though, considering he still had **Chevalier De Fleur** with full attack points.

"I'll allow it to go through."

"What?!" Panty's reaction was all he needed to hear to know that her previous plan was now ruined, all because he allowed his monster to lose half his attack points (1300). A loss, might he add, that he didn't care for.

"I activate his effect." **Junk Destroyer** detached the four long, stainless steel blades from his back and threw it at her field spell, destroying it instantly. "He can destroy a certain amount of cards depending on how many materials were used to summon him, and I only used one. You should be thankful for that. I now send my Destroyer to attack your Dragon, and follow through with Fleur!" Panty's frown and anger increased tenfold by the time her field was cleared, as well as a large chunk of life points were missing from her counter, which pleased him quite a bit. She wouldn't win this duel, not by a long shot. "I end my turn."

"I draw, and activate **One Day of Peace**!" A random scroll appeared in front of Brief, depicting a large red circle signaling no fighting was allowed. Brief frowned a bit, but didn't show much reaction. "We each draw a card, and neither of us take damage of any kind until the end phase of your turn!" He drew his card, caring more for what Panty did than the trap card he just drew. Whatever it was, she grinned and ended her turn.

_'Either it is a spell card, or a monster that will allow her to gain a hand advantage. But, if that was the case, why not set it?'_ Brief drew his card, signaling the start of his turn, and looked at the card he drew for a moment before placing it in his other hand. There was no point in bringing it out right now, since he couldn't attack for game at this moment, so what would be the point? "I end my turn."

"I draw, set a card, and end my turn fucker!"

"For someone who was causing everyone else so much trouble, you're doing a pathetic job at scaring me or second guessing myself." Panty flipped him off, as if that would anger him. When would she learn that he just didn't care at this moment?

"Just because you own a card shop doesn't mean that you're high and mighty fucker!"

"Did I ever say or suggest that I was 'high and mighty' as you put it?" Brief shook his head. "On second thought, don't answer Panty. Its my turn." The card he drew would be useful if he had another Quickdraw in his hand, or if he wanted to bring out the other monster he had, but since he didn't need them at this moment, he placed it with the others. "I'll send my two Synchros to attack your facedown Panty. I hope it is something good."

"Oh it is fuck-face!" Suddenly, right as Fleur stabbed the facedown card, a green Pterodactyl, he believed it was called, appeared and avoided the injury. He knew what the card was, and suddenly realized that Panty was playing a Wind themed deck, a deck that, while unused now, was still annoying to deal with, especially if she was assimilating other decks into it. "My **Shield Wing** (900) can't be destroyed up to twice per turn! Even if you summon something else, you will have to wait until NEXT turn in order to destroy my monster, so take that fucker!"

"You act as if you've won already. I set a card and end my turn.

"Psh, just accept that you have no outs at the moment. I draw, and activate **Swords of Revealing Light**!" Three energy swords appeared around him and his monsters, blocking any attempt at striking the blonde Angel or her defensive monster. "I also set a monster before ending my turn."

"Stalling tactics Panty?" Brief questioned as he drew new card. "I thought you were a girl who took whatever she wanted when she wanted, not laying low and letting her prey walk away. Have you really lost your game?"

"I haven't lost anything Geek Boy!" Panty replied as he set the card he drew. Since he could do nothing, he ended his turn, watching as one of the swords disappeared from his side. Two more turns and he could destroy her monsters, and erase the rest of her life points in a quick manner. "My turn, and I normal summon **Harpie Lady 2** (1300/1400) and end my turn."

"This is so boring. Are you even trying to "punish" me at all for getting you interested in dueling, as you put it?" He drew his card while ignoring whatever the blonde had to say, and had another piece of his puzzle in hand. Just how would he defeat the blonde, he pondered before doing something that should confuse the Angel. "I set my Synchro monsters to defense mode (Fleur: 2300) (Destroyer: 2500), and thanks to them being in defense mode, I can special summon **Backup Warrior** (2100/0) due to its effects. I end my turn." A second sword was gone, allowing Panty to have one more turn to herself before she was forced to deal with a devastating force to destroy her monsters.

"You have big monsters, so what? I draw, set a card, and end my turn!"

"A wall is just that, a wall. And like any other wall-"

"Shut the fuck up Geek Boy!"

"It can be taken down!" Brief drew a copy of the component he drew last turn, making him frown at the card before turning Fleur in attack mode (2700) and ended his turn. The final sword disappeared, allowing him the right to attack Panty next turn, that was, unless she had another stall card to force him in a tight spot.

"I draw, flip summon **Influence Dragon** (300/900), and activate **Spiritual Wind Art - Miyabi**!" The sudden revealed monster took on a green glow, which appeared onto Fleur shortly after the card was activated, and Brief realized what was about to happen.

"I activate **Seven Tools of the Bandit**, sacrificing a thousand life points in order to destroy your trap card!"

"Fuck you too ya fucking jack off!" The trap card was destroyed without any special effects, causing Panty to lose two cards at once, and Brief only lost life points by his own hand. A pity, as he was slightly hoping to win without any loss to his life points at all, a rare event that happened every now and again that he hoped to one day make an every day occurence. "I switch my **Harpie Lady 2** to defense mode (1400) and end my turn."

"I draw, and use my Warrior and Fleur to attack your Harpie and your facedown!" The facedown monster turned up to be a second **Influence Dragon**, though he was amused at the rockets that destroyed the card thanks to his Warrior, while the Harpie was dispatched in a similar manner, being torn to bits by a flurry of petals. What could the Angel do now? "I end."

"I draw, and activate **One Day of Peace**!"

_'Where is she coming up with these cards?'_ He drew his card, neither happy or distraught over the card he obtained. Whatever card Panty drew, she set the monster before ending her turn, giving him control of the field. The card he drew was the key to completing his combo, but he knew better than to hurry with it. One more card wouldn't hurt, would it? "I set one monster, change **Junk Destroyer** to attack mode, and attack your **Shield Wing** with my three monsters, destroying it for good!"

"I still survive the duel Geek Boy, which means I can still win this!" She shouted as her last true line of defense was sent to the graveyard, causing him to roll his eyes and ended his turn. It was her last turn, so it wasn't as if he had anything to worry about, to be honest. She drew a monster, which one he didn't know just yet, but watched as she set it on the field, ending her turn with a glare that seemed to challenge him. She just didn't know when to give up, did she?

"This is end game, Panty. With this card I draw, your defeat shall happen!" He knew that the card he drew was developed in a gold aura, nor did it matter at this point. He was a duelist king, and this peasant before him was going to NEVER question his friends and their dueling abilities ever again! "I normal summon **Wind-Up Soldier** (1800/1200)-"

"Yes! Take this shit wad! I activate **Trap ****Hole**-"

"Which is negated by Fleur's ability." A small flurry of petals destroyed the flipped trap card, causing Panty to frown and swear many things as one of her last lines of defense were gone. He still continued his turn though. "I activate my Soldier's effect, increasing his level by one and his attack by 400, making him 2200, and sacrifice him and **Backup Warrior** in order to special summon **Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon** (3000/2500) in attack mode!" His two monsters were quickly replaced by a large, artistically detailed dragon that glowed brighter than any galaxy in the stars, and its roar was more deadly than any black hole. Sadly, for his opponent, more was on its way. "I activate **Double Summon**, allowing me to normal summon a second turn, and I summon **Goblindbergh** (1400/0)." He wondered if she was going to do anything, but was surprised when she didn't do a thing. Did she forget that Fleur's effect could only happen once per turn during his turn only? "I then flip my **Shield Warrior** (1600) and activate **Galaxy Queen's Light**, allowing me to make every monster on my side of the field equal to a level that is seven or higher, and I pick the level eight!"

"You're going to bring your Sun Dragon out to play, is that it?" Panty spat out, showing that she had some fight in her. The sight of that inner fire caused him to grin, breaking his normal neutral facial structure and shook his head.

"Oh no," He replied in a playful manner. He just loved the thought of blowing out her mind! With his monsters all being level eight, all he had to do was summon what he wanted, and the game was his. "I'm going to bring out something much **WORSE** than just my Sun Dragon Panty. I overlay my **Shield Warrior** and **Goblindbergh** to Xyz summon **Hieratic Sun Dragon of Heliopolis** (3000/2400), and my **Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon**, **Junk Destroyer**, and **Chevalier De Fleur** together to bring out my strongest Xyz monster!" The area they were playing in suddenly turned pitch black, allowing for his Sun Dragon to fully appear in all of its mighty glory, allowing Panty to get a clear view of her defeat as it brought itself to life. It first appeared as a sphere of purple and pink, with three different lumps that gave the sphere unique properties. At least, until the monster broke free of its bindings, breaking the darkness away and revealing the area around the two duelists to be frozen in time, preventing Panty to even think of escaping as his monster fully formed.

"What...What da fak is that thing!" The monster roared, breaking all of the windows within a few feet of the duel on all sides, though it was not the only thing that roared. Its two other heads joined the main one in joy, causing Brief to gaze upon Panty with what many would consider a disturbing glee. However, he just considered it a job well done, and would take amusement in whatever came next.

"Oh this?" He casually turned his hand around, as if introducing an old friend to his family. His smile must have frightened the Angel, as she took a step back at the sight. "This is **Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon** (4500/3000) dearest Panty, and with these two monsters your defeat is bound to fate!" His monsters attacked the facedown monsters, revealing to him **Gusto Codor** (400) and **Flying Kamakiri #1** (900) before they were destroyed in a blaze of fiery death.

"I...activate my Insect's effect, allowing me to special summon a Wind monster with 1500 or less attack, and the monster I pick is **Gusto Squirro **(0/1800)!"

"You're leaving your chances to a squirrel?" Brief commented, questioning Panty's sanity at this point. She smirked and pointed at him.

"Just because you don't believe in me doesn't mean that I don't believe in myself or in my deck! I will NOT back down or fear the thought of defeat at your hands you jerk!" Brief, for a, pardon the pun, brief moment, admired Panty for staying level headed in such a situation, and wondered just how good of a duelist she truly was. Maybe he would find out in the future, if she wanted to continue dueling after this match, he added as an afterthought.

"I end my turn."

"I draw!" Panty paused before drawing her card, smiling for a second before setting a card to her back row. "I activate **Pot of Avarice**, allowing me to shuffle back in five monsters, and draw two cards!" As soon as her duel disk was done shuffling, she drew two cards, and her smile grew even more cocky. Just what was she going for, he wondered? "I activate **Double Summon**, allowing me to normal summon once more this turn, and I bring out **Flying Kamakiri #1** (1400/900) and **Shield Wing** (0/900). I then tune my level 2 Gusto monster to them in order to Synchro summon **Stardust Dragon** (2500/2000) in attack mode!" His finger itched for his **Bottomless Trap Hole**, a card he set long ago for this very purpose. He knew that he would have to destroy any Synchro or Xyz monster he brought out and leave her defenseless!

So why couldn't he banish his own monster?

_'Am I still weak, like my father thought I was?'_ Brief ignored the thought as he watched her activate a trap card, **Call of the Haunted**, special summoning, **Flying Kamakiri #1** in attack mode before ending her turn. Despite the fact that she just ended her turn, he felt as if he was going to run into a trap next turn, and drew his card. His deck always came through for him, giving him what he needed when he needed it.

"I detach-"

"I activate **Spiritual Wind Art - Miyabi**, allowing me to tribute my Insect in order to send your living, breathing pink dildo back to the extra deck!"

"I still activate Heliopolis' effect-"

"And I shall activate Stardust's effect, tributing it in order to negate the destruction and destroy YOUR monster!" In seconds, the field was empty, with the exception of tha **Call of the Haunted** that remained, as well as his two back row. He should have activated Bottomless, he KNEW he should have pushed his feelings to the side in order to win, but he didn't and it was going to cost him big time!

"I set one card and end my turn." As soon as he said that, his **Stardust Dragon** reappeared on Panty's side of the field, looking at him with a look that showed remorse and pleading. He was unsure as to why his monster was pleading to him, but it didn't jerk around as if it wanted to come back to his care.

"And its back to help me! I draw, and attack you directly!"

_'If I can't remove it, I will stop it in its tracks!'_ Brief flipped his newest trap card. "Sorry, but **Kunai with Chain** forces **Stardust Dragon** to go to defense mode."

"And now I have a wall that will attack you next turn Geek Boy!"

"Walls are a creature type in Magic, the Gathering, not in Yu-Gi-Oh Panty." Panty, rather than say anything, flipped him the bird before ending her turn. He drew his card, set it, and ended his turn. It would be good to stall, but he looked at his other card that hadn't been activated and sighed. He knew what had to be done...

"My turn fucker! I set a card, switch **Stardust Dragon** to attack mode, and attack you directly!"

"**Negate Attack**."

"Fuck you too! I end you cock sucker!"

"I activate The **Warrior Returning Alive** to add one Warrior type monster from my graveyard to my hand." Brief took a moment to do so, looking at the other card in his hand before nodding to himself. It had to be done. "I activate **Dark ****Hole**-"

"I tribute my **Stardust Dragon** to negate and destroy it!" Brief didn't show any hint of emotion as his Synchro monster disappeared, revealing Panty's empty field to him.

"I normal summon **Goblin Attack Force** (2300/0) and send it for a direct attack!" With nothing to protect her on the field, as well as her not showing any hint of activating the card she set, she was forced to take 2300 points of damage, putting her at 1500 life points. With his monster now in defense mode, he had a decent, novice defense to protect his own, though it was his back row he was hoping to use.

"My **Stardust Dragon** is coming back to play Brief!" He wondered why she called him by his real name, only for a moment though, before activating his trap card.

"No...It won't. I activate **Bottomless Trap Hole**, removing it from the game. Also, since it is special summoning itself from its own effect, you can't use its effect once again."

"FUCK!" Panty swore as the Synchro monster disappeared in a sickening devil's pit, though he was sure that he felt more pain at the loss than she would ever feel. He quickly ended his turn, allowing Panty to draw a card and, much to his surprise, summoned **Harpie's Baby Pet Dragon** (1200/600) and attacked with it. He was prepared for an attack though, and activated **Sakuretsu Armor** to destroy the monster, which made the blonde opponent glare at him before ending her turn. He drew, surprising himself at the card that came to him, and smiled.

"This duel is finished. I normal summon **Comrade Swordsman of Landstar** (500/1200), and tune it to my level four Goblins in order to Synchro summon my level seven** Lightning Warrior** (2400/1200) in attack mode!" A tall, muscular warrior in shining white armor appeared, his long spikey yellow hair crackling with electricity, signaling that touching him would result only in pain. "I attack with him for game!" A trio of lightning bolts slammed into Panty, forcing her to scream at the direct attack, making her life point counter drop to zero. He sighed as time took its place again, allowing for people to start screaming at the sight of the suddenly broken windows, as well as for the driver of a shady looking white van to drive by. He jogged to the other side of the street and looked at the blonde that, at the moment, was barely moving, but was luckily alive.

"F-F-Fu-Fuckin as-asshole..." Brief bent down and picked up **Stardust Dragon** from the removed section of his duel disk. He expected few things to happen when he picked up the card. He thought that he may feel as if a part of his soul returned to him, like the last piece to a puzzle. There was a chance that he may have glowed to unify himself with **Stardust Dragon**, becoming tuned to one another for more duels to come. He even expected for nothing to happen at all, simply placing it back to his extra deck and took her back to the Card Buffet for her to sleep.

Out of all the things to happen, he didn't expect for a suddenly sharp gust of wind to split his finger, making him recoil in pain as his appendage began to bleed. He looked at the card that fell directly in her extra deck, making him reach for it a second time, this time with his other hand. A small roar stopped him, a moment that allowed for an illusion of his monster to appear behind the Angel, stretching its wings to cover her fallen body from him. Why would it do such a thing, he thought to himself as he looked at the monster's eyes, an image of a younger him summoning Stardust for the very first time appearing in his mind.

It took a moment, but he realized what it wanted to do. The game that it wanted, no, the journey it wanted to take at this moment, and looked at Panty. He could understand what it saw, but he had several points that made the monster's view flawed and completely outshined by the negatives. In the end, he looked away, calling the Black Suits to carry the Angel back to one of the closest emergency hotel rooms in the city, as well as quickly called the Chinese take out place and ordered double the portions he would have normally purchased for him and his friends. With one last look at the blonde, he smiled and nodded at the illusion before turning around.

"Don't disappoint me Panty, or else I'll take back **Stardust Dragon** whether she likes it or not." With that, Brief left the blonde with a small frown on his face. _'Stardust...I hope you know what you're doing.'_

-Author Note-

Hello readers, reviewers, and followers! As usual, I don't own Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, any of the Yu-Gi-Oh series, or anything that ends up in this story that isn't an O.C. of my own creation. With that said, hello everyone! To an extent, I hate this chapter for the fact that it is getting to a point where more creativity in characters and their decks are needed, but I love it for bringing two main characters to duel one another, which hasn't been done for a few chapters now. It has been a main character dueling against an O.C., something that I am fine with, but I am sure you readers prefer duels that deal with important characters only. I mean, we get a serious Brief going up against Panty, who doesn't know what she is truly up against, and we also see Sal talking to whatever is now interested in her.

Sadly, this also means that _Sugar, Geeks, and Card Games, Oh My!_ is also taking a slight **hiatus**. I am in major need of cards, mostly staple cards and more commons in high sets, so the O.C.s that I plan to have the main cast go against actually HAVE something that is challenging to go against, rather than a mash of cards with no theme or synergy that can fall with a simple tug of its string. I don't know when this hiatus will be pulled, but it won't be for a while unless I buy a few starter/structure decks, as well as some random boosters. If I recall correctly, I've only purchased TWO booster packs of Abyss Rising, which has been out for quite a while, yet another reason to hate my busy life, as I have things to pay that deplete my card money savings.

So, just to put it out there, if you have any random cards you don't care for, PM me and we can work out some mailing. Now, onto **Lord Of The Page's** review, since he was the only one to review the last chapter.

**Page**: I can see where you're coming from, and those are the usual issues that do appear with most tribute summoned monsters, so I can see your points clearly. I do enjoy the fact that you found the chapter not only interesting, but liked the screen time that Stocking and Sal got, considering most of the characters have been isolated from one another during the past few chapters. Gotta love tournaments right?

To my readers and those who follow and favorite this story, thank you for the signs of liking/reading this story! I do hope to get some reviews to hear your opinions of this story, even if they are negative, but I do understand that some of my readers read this from a mobile device, and writing it out is a pain in the ass. I have considered putting the story in the Panty & Stocking slot, rather than a crossover for more readers to spot this, but I decided against it. The crossover count for this series is low enough as is, and I do hope to fill the crossover category, as well as the regular P&S section, with stories of my creation one day soon. Hence, why it is staying where it is.

So, as usual everyone, I hope you've enjoyed the latest chapter, and please take the time to drop me a **review**. Until next time!


	15. Arc 2: Empty Wins All Around

In a place known as Daten City, a city-wide tournament was being held for three days. This tournament is for the card game known as Yu-Gi-Oh, where duelists who were lucky enough to pick up a duel disk before the second day, this very day in fact, could participate in it and, by earning enough C-Rings, would make it to the next round of the tournament. The prize for the tournament wasn't known, but it didn't matter to most of the competitors of the competition, for all they could think about was what inspired the tournament, and those that watched the original anime of the Battle City arc knew full well what it could turn out to actually become, and with the duel disks they had, the joy became a reality.

However, for three individuals, each never knowing of the other, their plans were in the process of being pushed to the next stage, each making steps to ensure of their success. For one, their goal was to prevent the Chosen One from reaching enemy hands, and would capture him to protect his soul, even if he had to become an enemy to do it. To another, she was merely taking time off work and wanted to study a pair of people before confronting them, hoping that her current facts were correct and no errors could be found. For the last of these individuals, well, he merely wanted to complete the task he was given and be done with the person who ordered it forever, which said person was completely fine with.

Unknowingly to the trio, they would be enemies for their goals, even if one of theirs was more lenient than the others, and would strive to do anything to ensure of their success. And, as if to make everything worse for their goals, they relied on certain individuals to get into the final round, with the exception for the first individual, who wanted his Chosen One to withdraw from the tournament by any means. Then again, there was only one thing that related the trio to one another, and it wasn't their goals.

Oh no, they were uncaring for how many souls they had to bring under their thumbs to challenge their targets, hoping for their own goals to succeed without too much of a backlash...

-Chapter 15-

"So...are we ready to go?" Stocking Anarchy asked, looking down at the clothes she washed last night and smiled when she saw no sign of wrinkles or stubborn stains. She wasn't the only one to make use of the services the Card Buffet offered however, and turned to Sal, who was wearing a blue hoodie with a random logo on the chest she didn't recognize, with a pair of black jeans. Brief was the only one who wore something she was familiar with, and it was his army green jumpsuit with the PKE meter on his back, providing a weapon and a detector for Ghosts if Garterbelt didn't call her first.

"Yea, I had to call in a few guys I know to run the shop while I'm gone, but I can continue forward. What about you Sal?" Brief, the main nerd of her little group, asked as he prepped his duel disk on his arm, taking more care of the extra deck that was still missing his **Stardust Dragon**, a card he dearly missed from what Stocking knew. She hoped that they could find his card today, or else she had a feeling that some lucky, unpopular, dirty sap was able to find it and put it in their deck, ensuring that they could never find it.

"Brief my man...I am pumped for some C-Ring collecting!" Sal responded happier than ever, and the reason for that was all thanks to Brief. He had managed to find Sal an extra copy of **Ancient Fairy Dragon** in one of the special binders labeled TIN, though she personally hadn't seen that binder during her visits, and she prided herself for her decent memory recall system to tell the truth, but she didn't question a good thing. It kept Sal's spirits up, and she had an additional Synchro monster _in her extra deck, making their friend happier and possibly more dangerous than ever in terms of dueling._

_'I think she has more Synchro monsters than Xyz now. Maybe I should hand her a few Light Xyz monsters so she doesn't get too focused on Synchros.'_ Despite the fact that Synchro monsters usually had better effects, there were reasons as to why Xyz monsters were so popular, and the fact that Sal would be Synchro summoning for the first time today made her realize that the sooner she had a few more outs in the form of Xyz monsters, the higher chance their friend would survive the tournament. _'That, and the fact that she hasn't once used a Rank 3 Xyz monster at all is a bit unsettling, seeing as most Tuner monsters show up in the form of level 3.'_

"Then let's get out there and start dueling girls." Brief said in a happy, joyous tone as he opened the door for them, which Stocking found sweetly cliche. The city seemed to have been packed with more duelists than yesterday, which was expecting seeing as today was the last day where anyone could buy a duelist with a C-Ring attached, which was the main basic key to get into the tournament. Stocking didn't have to turn her head to see a few duels happening on the sidewalk, allowing for the hologram projectors to cling to the apartments and stores beside them, which forced some of the monsters to cling to the walls, giving a different display to those who were watching. She knew that they could just walk up to any duelist, ask for a duel, and most likely beat them to get their C-Ring...

"But the only problem is where are we going to duel?" Without See-Through by her side, Stocking couldn't drive them to the park, where she was sure that most of the duelists would be hunting for others at. Even if she did have their trusted vehicle, the traffic jams in Daten City were legendary, and she had a feeling that it would take eras for them to get to the park, and by that time more than half of the good duelists would be gone. She glanced at Brief, who was looking down at his cell phone, an impressive Android model device that she couldn't see a brand label on, and grinned.

"Apparently there is a small shopping center that has closed off most of its parking lot in order to allow duelists to duel there, and they've even allowed some of the Farmer's Market crew to set up shops around them so the crowd could eat while watching the other duelists. If we want to get enough C-Rings to enter the tournament, going there might just be our best bet."

"You mean to tell me that the local community is going to milk major hard cash from other duelists all over the city?" Sal asked as she and Stocking followed Brief, who was leading them to this parking lot. Despite how negative such a question was, Stocking was use to hearing, as well as seeing such responses in action, especially with Panty either doing it or leading the crowd. Plus, to fully befair, it wasn't as if the Farmer's Market were bad people like most of the scum in the city...

"That shouldn't honestly be surprising, since Yu-Gi-Oh _is_ a costly game you know." Brief turned his head to Sal and grinned, causing her to shake her head with a smile of her own.

"And you would know, being a card shop employee and all." That little, obvious fact brought a sour taste to Stocking's tongue, and she knew the exact reason as to why that was. Being a rival meant that you could always come on top of them, even accepting a loss if they pushed you beyond the normal limit or boundaries of the duel at hand. With a normal pair of duelists, this would most likely end up in a never-ending cycle of wins and losses that both parties could enjoy; however, Stocking and Brief's situation was different due to him running the Card Buffet. He got all of the newest sets and special editions early, the new structure and starter decks on a whim, and he had possibly two dozen binders filled with rare, super, ultra, ultimate, secret, ghost, gold, and gold ghost rare cards, all of which usually worth a pretty penny, and that didn't even _include_ the boxes upon boxes of common cards he had on the lower shelves in the shop, meaning that he could, and most likely would be able to top Stocking at every step, especially with such a library of cards at his disposal.

If she didn't have any confidence in herself, she would compare the situation to the man who built wings out of wood and wax so he could reach the sun, only for the wax to melt when met by the barest touch of the mighty sun. She could beat him, and nearly came close to it, improving her deck so he never had the exact build on her, so she knew that she would win over him eventually. But it was the matter of when that bothered her, since losing to the same person too many times would leave a sour taste unlike any other. Maybe she should try to pick up an **Uria****, Lord of Searing Flames** the next time she was at the Card Buffet? She could try building a Continuous Trap deck that would, in theory, allow her to special Uria, as well as reuse her trap cards, such as **Call of the Haunted** or a **Fiendish Chain**, but that would be a plan for another day.

* * *

"So...those are the three, am I right?" The unknown individual asked as they calmly followed them from a few feet away. The cell phone in their hand felt warm for some reason, not that it mattered. As a collector, all that mattered were the status condition of the item, how much of a steal price wise they got it, and how easy it was to obtain, so a little information was all they needed.

"Yes, and while the one in the dress and the one in the hoodie have reprints of Dragons, with the exception for a secret rare **Ancient Fairy Dragon**, the main target for you is the ginger, who has a rather interesting extra deck, including a **Neo-Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon**, ultra rare first edition might I add." The figure recalled a piece of information that found its way to him not too long ago and widened their eyes for a moment.

"Isn't he the one who participated in showing off the duel disk, as well as that Gothic girl with daddy issues?"

"The very same. 'Fiend Queen' and 'Dragon Lord' are two of the top duelists in Daten City-"

"Wait, I thought she was The Fiend Ruler?"

"Different girl, who I can't seem to trace at the moment. Either way, as long as you defeat the boy, I'm sure you can get his cards off him before he realizes anything, seeing as you need to get close to him in order to get his C-Rings, which I believe he has two of, putting you closer to the second round of the tournament." The figure smirked, focusing their attention entirely on the orange haired boy without any hesitation in their step.

"Alright, I'll do what you want G, if only since it benefits me best." And with that, the conversation ended, leaving one individual pleased while another was hurrying to their next prey.

* * *

The parking lot wasn't that far away, which meant that the trio easily saw a decent sized crowd standing around the self-made barriers, watching several duelists duke it out for the other's C-Rings. Six duels were going on, and about ten or so people with duel disks were standing around the edge, as if evaluating the competition to learn their strategies and defeat them with the aid of their side deck. Well, Stocking assumed that they were taking a breather to review their next opponents, though they could have just as easily been people who were easily defeated and no longer had any C-Rings to their name.

_'So who looks as if they have something to hide.'_ If she went by that rule, then she would be looking at those on the side line, seeing as they weren't so open with their dueling or discussions. Some were making alterations to their decks, proving her partially right with either theory of they losing or were planning on dueling the winners, but others were simply recording the matches, most likely uploading the feed to Youtube in order to get more views on their respective channels. With all of the attention the duelists were making, plus the shops being open, and the vendors selling food, the parking lot was a sure-fire success for all parties involved.

Well, except for the losers who lost their C-Rings, but they didn't matter.

"Well well...If it isn't little Sally Ann Perks, the one that no one likes, and forgets about with the flip of a page." Stocking turned to her left, instantly noticing a short, well dressed black girl who had short, corkscrew bangs that looked as menacing as the drill that could use it, and her bright yellow uniform was just as deadly, for it had deep, well stitched pockets. Pockets that could hide just about anything in them, from grenades to a decent pistol, and no one could ever tell from looking at it. She quickly noticed that the girl had two others behind her, one of them being unimportant and had the left side of her body hiding behind the first girl, but the guy behind her, a thin, basketball player if his iconic shirt was an indicator, had a duel disk, but didn't seem all that interested in dueling. "What are you doing here, socializing with the betters? I thought you preferred being alone in your apartment with your mother?"

"And you are?" Brief asked in a, how could she put this? In a tone that promised to slowly, and carefully, examine the corpse before grabbing a sledge-hammer and smashing the remains wrongfully. Was that how it sounded? She was unsure, mostly due to _never_ hearing Brief taking such a tone.

"I shouldn't completely be surprised Sally here hasn't told you anything about her high school life." The girl smirked before placing a hand on her chest, a show-off's tactic. "I'm Megan Drewling, and you are?"

"Briefers Rock, heir to the Rock Foundation. Maybe you've heard of it, seeing as your friend there is wearing one of our company's supported brands after all, even if she doesn't bring our style justice." The unimportant girl glared at Brief, but Stocking couldn't stop the smirk from showing on her face, causing the girl to switch her attention to the Goth.

"And what is so amusing, Goth trash?"

"I find it delectable that someone as generic as you could try to use such a rich, creamy ganache to cover up how bland you taste, and still taste like shit, though you look just as bad to be honest. I bet no one would ever wish to eat from you, to be honest." Despite the unimportant girl looking pissed, Megan looked at her with a smile before focusing on Sal once again.

"Having your friends fighting your battles for you hm? Just like old times."

"For your information Meggy," Megan suddenly looked uncomfortable at the name Sal used, "I can converse quite well, but I don't feel like wasting my time with you." Sal walked around Stocking, allowing for her to get up close and personal with the girl in the process. Were they old friends now turned enemies? "We have a task at hand, and I'm not going to allow my past to catch up to me. So, if you'll excuse us, we need to get going."

"Oh, so you're in this tournament too?" The unimportant girl moved away from Megan, revealing her diamond decorated duel disk. Fake gems aside, the duel disk did look decent for a custom model, though what such a girl would use for a deck drew a blank in her mind, and that was something that worried her, seeing as Megan had two duelists behind her, and she partially assumed that it could have been a two on one duel, which were unfavorable odds for anyone.

"Why don't we do this?" The unimportant girl suggested, activating her duel disk in the process. "You can face me with my deck and, if you win, you can get my C-Ring, but if I win I get your stupid deck. I'm sure that I can use it much better than YOU!"

"Hey!" Stocking shouted, attracting the girl's attention. "That is unfair and a unequivalent exchange to boot!" Much to her shock, the basketball guy activated his duel disk as well, looking at her like a piece of meat with little value except for the milk she had in her breasts. Well, not that she HAD any, but she figured he looked at her like a cow, so why bother changing the words, right?

"Then why don't we do a tag-team duel, sharing the 8000 life points. That is, unless you want to play it safe and go for the full 16,000?" He paused, smirking as he shuffled his deck with the press of a button. Was he so cocky to just expect for her to act like a girl who wanted to leave on the drop of a dime? "If we win, we get both of your decks as well as one C-Ring from each of you; although, I'm not done yet. If you win, I'll give you my deck and extra deck as an additional prize, if only to keep things slightly fair since Bridge here just got her deck not too long ago." If they won, then they would each be getting one of their C-Rings, putting Sal and herself back to one each, and they'd be losing their decks to them, which was NOT an option.

If the two of them won, on the other hand, they would each get a C-Ring, putting them at 3, and they'd get the boy's deck, which would allow for them to take what was good and leave the rest for future projects, or even to just throw to the wind. In the end, Sal knew these three much better than she did, which meant that the ball was in her friend's court, lame pun aside. So, she sighed and turned to her friend, who glanced at her and looked at her with appraising eyes.

"If I say yes, would you be mad?" Was the question Sal asked with no words spoken. Stocking replied with a roll of her eyes.

"If you do, I won't be mad, but I won't play nice." Was her silent response. Sal grinned and pointed at the guy with a Sal-approved smirk on her face. "You're on Timber!" Odd name aside, Timber nodded and gave Megan a hug before letting her move to the sidelines, allowing Bridge, a nickname most likely, to move to the left, allowing the two for their duel disks to release their respective projectors. "You ready for this, Fiend Ruler?" Stocking looked at her friend and smiled.

"Only if you can handle the heat in this kitchen Prophet."

"Lame." Brief, Stocking noted, moved into the crowd as well, allowing her to activate her duel disk and release her own projectors. Sal, showing confidance like never before, pointed at Timber and moved that finger over to Bridge. "Hope you know that we'll be using 8000 life points, and since it was you two that challenged us, that I'll be going first, followed by Bridge, then Stocking, and finally ending with Timber. That cool?"

"I'm cool, if only to see you crumble even with first turn advantage." Bridge replied with a rather uneasy grin. Stocking drew her five cards, impressed by her starting hand, but her sixth card, when she drew it, would be what would decide how she would start her first turn, so she waited to see what Sal would do first.

"Lets duel!" And, as if those were the magic words, the other three drew their five cards, giving the Gothic Angel a bit of a head start on her strategy planning. "My draw," the reaction she had on her face was impassive for a moment, making Stocking think if she came across the same, or a similar bad hand like she did when they faced Barby and her drone. If that was the case, then their duel could take a sour note really quick. "I normal summon **Alexandrite Dragon** (2000/100) in attack mode, set one card, and end my turn!" Sal's dragon appeared in a large, shimmering crystal that quickly shattered as soon as it appeared, revealing the gem infused dragon while it released a loud, mighty roar. Bridge seemed to focus more on the single set card than the monster, but Stocking didn't know for certain as to why.

"A rather boring start Sally. My turn." Bridge drew her card and shrugged her shoulders. "I'll be saving you for later cutie. I play the spell card **Blaze Accelerator**," an odd, mechanical cannon that rested on a tri-pod appeared next to Bridge, "and I'll be activating its effect! By sending a monster with 500 or less attack, such as my **Raging Flame Sprite**, to the grave, I can target one monster on the field and destroy it, like your precious dragon Sally!" For a split second, the hologram of the sacrificed monster appeared above the cannon, though it was suddenly lit aflame and sucked into the machine, which shot it directly into Sal's monster, destroying it instantly.

"No!" Bridge and Megan laughed in glee at her friend's reaction, and it made Stocking all the more dedicated to taking them down hard.

"And, just like your role in the Harry Potter books, your monster was gone before it could even do a thing. I end my turn." Bridge may have had the first effective play, but she hadn't dueled against Stocking before, and she was going to get a good taste of what she could do.

"My turn little girl." Bridge glared at her as she drew her sixth card, and oh did she draw something good! "I'll start this recipe off by activating **Mystical Space Typhoon**, destroying your toy cannon right there with a gust of wind!" That 'gust of wind', might she add, apparently had enough power behind it to physically ruin the girl's hair, which raised the Goth's mood even more. Oh, and the girl's facial reaction was SO picture worthy! "I'll continue my turn by normal summoning **Fabled Raven** (1300/1000), setting a card, and activating his effect! By discarding one card from my hand to the grave, he can gain a level and 400 attack, and, due to the effect of the card I discarded, it special summons itself to the field. So say hello to **Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World** (2300/1400)!" She loved this particular combo, especially when she would either Synchro or Xyz summon something to act as her main offense for a few turns; however, what prevented that combo from hitting it off was Timber, who looked far too pleased with her power play. "I end my turn."

"Oh, not going to Synchro summon Stocking? A shame indeed." Timber drew his card, gave it a passing glance before exchanging the card for two from his opening hand. Something bad was about to happen, she just knew it. "I activate **Hammer Shot** and **Fissure**, which automatically destroys the monster with the highest and lowest attack on the field, which means that you wasted two monsters far too early." Stocking's monsters were gone with a pained expression on their faces, something that bothered the Goth greatly. Raven was fortunate enough to simply fall into, well, a fissure, but Goldd met his fate by a horribly large, wooden mallet slamming him to the ground, destroying him instantly.

_'He will pay for that!'_ She decided with a glare.

"I then normal summon **Pilgrim of the Ice Barrier** (1500/1000) and attack you directly." Timber's monster, a blond-haired man whose hair was nearly as long as Panty's own, appeared wearing some form of formal robes and sent two well crafted snowflakes carved from ice towards them. Unfortunately for him, the snowflakes were suddenly met by a multi-colored barrier, curtsey of her.

"My **Negate Attack** prevents that attack and ends the battle phase."

"Oh well, not that it matters. I end my turn." Stocking hoped that they weren't going up against another Steven, seeing at how relaxed the guy was at the moment reminded her of the one she dueled yesterday. A small cheer from Sal caught her attention, breaking her from the current thought and focused on her friend.

"I activate **Monster Reincarnation**, allowing me to discard one card from my hand to the grave in order to add a monster back from the grave to my hand. That monster, which I will summon, is none other than my **Alexandrite Dragon** (2000/100)!" Despite the sudden appearance of Sal's monster, Timber didn't falter in emotion or physical appearance, which was unsettling. Just what was he thinking, Stocking wondered. "I then attack your Ice Barrier monster! Break him with your Quartz Claw my dragon!" The monster roared as it flew above the Pilgrim and tried to cut it in half with its claws, something that Stocking wanted to see; and yet, they witnessed the warrior take the injury to the stomach, ripping its robes, but not destroying the monster.

"My monster has an effect that prevents its destruction from any monster with 1900 or more attack, though we still take life point damage (7500)."

_'That is why he destroyed my monsters first!'_ Stocking realized, her face never revealing her inspiration. _'I could deal massive damage with Goldd, and then destroy it with Raven if I discarded a card before entering the battle phase, damn!'_ Good strategy aside, Sal set a new card before ending her turn, giving it to Bridge, who looked rather bored.

"Yawn, my turn finally?" Bridge drew her card and instantly set it and a monster before ending her turn. Despite how short it was, Stocking wasn't going to trick herself into believing that she didn't know what she was doing, and drew her card, wondering what Bridge was planning.

"I draw, and since both you and bean stalk there control two monsters total, I can normal summon my **Power Invader** (2200/0) in attack mode without tribute." Her purple, muscular Fiend appeared to her right, allowing her to grin at Bridge before focusing on Timber with a fake smile. "Now, I know that I can't destroy your Pilgrim, but I can still deal damage!"

"Not so fast!" Bridge shouted as she flipped her now obvious trap card, revealing it to be **Nightmare Wheel**. Under normal conditions, Stocking would have gotten pissed instantly at the sight of her monster on a medieval torture device, wincing in pain, but she had a plan. A plan that could be done thanks to the card she drew moments ago. "Every one of your standby phases deals 500 points of damage to you-"

"I know how the card works, thank you." Stocking interrupted, making Bridge huff in annoyance and glared. "I set one card before ending my turn." Timber didn't say anything as he drew his card, but his lack of action also said that he was planning something. Whatever it was, she wouldn't like it.

"I'll set one monster and one card before ending my turn." Sal raised an eyebrow at the guy's action. Was this not normal, she wondered to herself.

"That isn't like you at all Timber. When did you take things as slow as an artist painting on a canvas?" Yes, his actions were apparently unusual for her friend.

"Since I realized that my brain can do much more than think of how to bounce a ball Sal."

"Whatev, my turn." Sal drew her card, noticing that their life points would suddenly take the 500 points of damage Bridge was going to tell them next turn, but grinned anyway. She must have been on a roll, Stocking thought with a small smile. "I normal summon my second **Alexandrite Dragon** (2000/100), and send my two dragons to attack your Pilgrim!" The first dragon was about to make contact with the monster, only for it to strike the face-down monster, revealing it to be some futuristic robot with a pair of basic robotic wings on its back, and a pair of green orbs on the back of its hands.

"My **Ghost Gardna **(1900) will make your monster target it when I have another face-up monster. Also, when my Gardna is destroyed and sent to the graveyard by battle, I can pick one monster you control and have it lose 1000 attack points until the end phase, and I pick your second **Alexandrite Dragon**." Her second dragon shrunk in size (1000), making Sal recall her attack and paused, as if considering Bridge's face-down monster as a target. Stocking's only concern was that, since Timber was vouching his deck in place of hers for their defeat, that he knew what kind of monster-trap she had, and would have Sal run straight into it.

"Don't worry about that monster Sal." Stocking spoke up, catching her friend's attention. "Just play it cool and to your chest. Don't let them get to you." Sal smiled at her, earning a gag from Megan.

"Thanks Stocking. I end my turn."

"Pathetic," Bridge commented as she drew her card. She was never one for positive emotions, was she? "Needing a hand to hold you and keep you from making your own choices? Such a child Sal... Unlike me! I'll let my **Nightmare Wheel's** effect activate-"

"An unnecessary step to your recipe." Stocking interrupted again, placing a familiar monster on the field, and it was one that would irritate Bridge all the while. "Whenever we take life point damage by card effect, I can special summon my **Damage Mage** (600/1200) and gain life points equal to whatever we take, making your attempt null and void!" The cloaked woman waved her glowing yellow wing, making her and Sal glow for a moment (8000-500=7500+500=8000) before standing next to her. As if to piss off the girl even more, Stocking waved her hand in a uncarring manner. "You may now continue your recipe."

"Ugh, shut up with the food references you fat whore!" Stocking twitched a little, but did nothing as Bridge plucked a card out of her grave. "By removing a Pyro monster from my grave, I can special summon **Spirit of Flames** (1700/1000) in attack mode!" The monster that Barby's drone used appeared, looking just as pissed as before, and focused on her Damage Mage with a leery grin. "And now I'll attack your little mage, which, by the way, allows my Spirit to gain 300 attack during the battle phase, making him 2000!"

"Oh, so scary...Not!" Sal shouted as she and Stocking, unknowingly to her friend, activated a trap at the same time. Sal's trap was **Draining Shield**, which negated the attack and gave them 2000 life points, putting them at 10,000, while she activated **Call of the Haunted**, bringing her **Fabled Raven** (1300/1000) back to the field. All in all, they now had a larger field than both Timber and Bridge could handle, which meant that they could do little to disrupt their success in defeating them.

"Ugh, you...I end!"

"Thank you. I'll start this turn by drawing a card," The card could have been useful, but not until MUCH later, which meant it wouldn't see play, "and I tune my level two **Fabled Raven** to my level 3 **Damage Mage** in order to Synchro summon **Stygian Sergeants** (2200/1800) in attack mode!" Her newest Synchro addition to her extra deck appeared with a rev of its demonic motorcycle, grinning with its two heads, and spread its wings in a prideful manner, something that Stocking was happy to see. "I then send my monster to attack your **Spirit of Flames**!" Her monster rammed its motorcycle into the spirit, causing its eyes to widen in pain before it flew into the air, not only making it dissipate in a fog of pixels in seconds, but also dealt 500 points of damage too (7000). And, as if to make their parade ruined by a sudden flood, she pointed at Timber. "Now my monster's effect activates!"

"An effect?!" As Timber asked the redundant question, her monster's motorcycle grew in size, making her monster yell in glee of the new transportation of destruction it now had. Stocking, in the meantime, grinned and waved her hand at her Sergeants.

"Whenever they destroy a monster by battle and send it to the grave, it gains 800 attack points, putting him at 3000, and can attack again in a row, allowing me to attack your Pilgrim. Just because you have yourself a wall doesn't mean that it can defend you against me!" It was quite pleasing to see Timber's little Pilgrim stand up after being run over by her monster, though she felt so happy at seeing their life points drop to 5500, something that Sal took great joy in as well.

"I take it you end your turn?" Stocking nodded, allowing him to draw his card to officially start his turn. Whatever it was, it was placed beside another card, which could only mean that it was unnecessary. "I'll place my Pilgrim to defense mode (1000) before ending my turn."

"My turn then!" Sal quickly drew her card, smiling in the process. "I'll start things off by activating **Heavy Storm**, destroying all of our spell and trap cards!" A large whirlwind struck them all, though it was their opponents who lose their back row, especially with Bridge's **Nightmare Wheel** now gone, Stocking's Invader was free to fight. "With your zones now clear of anything, I'll send my first dragon to attack your face-down!" The claw ripped through a fire monkey, though it too looked familiar.

"Whenever my **Flamvell Poun **(200) is destroyed by battle and finds itself sent to the graveyard, I can add 1 monster with 200 defense from my deck to my hand!"

"So?" Sal responded to Bridge's comment without much worry in her voice. "I can still go in for a direct attack with my other dragon!" Rather than a claw to strike Bridge, Sal's second dragon released a purple, mystifying flame at her, which not only looked cool as hell, but did a serious blow of damage (3500) to them as well. Sal, as soon as she was done, set a card before placing her monsters on top of one another. "I set a card and overlay my two dragons in order to Xyz summon **Number 39: Utopia** (2500/2000) before ending my turn."

_'A great wall to protect us with Sal.'_ Stocking thought with a smile. Bridge looked quite unhappy with the current pace of the duel and frowned at her deck as she drew her card. In the end, she quickly set a card and a monster before ending her turn, causing Stocking to smile in turn.

"My turn." Stocking's new card was completely unnecessary, but a decent bluff if anything. "I set a card and..." It was then that Stocking paused, glancing at Sal with an appraising look. If she took the win, then it showed these people that Sal needed someone to do everything for her, which solved nothing. With a heavy sigh, Stocking changed her mind and faked a smile. "Send my **Power Invader** to attack your face-down!" The monster that her Invader destroyed ended up being **Neo-Flamvell Sabre** (200), which left her field completely open to attack, but resisted the urge to deal additional damage and sighed. "I end my turn."

"Stocking?" Sal, and for a moment she swore she heard Brief, question her as Timber drew his next card. She looked at her friend and smiled at her, knowing that she would have to explain it to her.

"They challenged you, thinking that you couldn't duel properly, nor defeat them. I could have ended the duel by attacking with **Sygian Sergeants** first, going for a 3000 direct attack before finishing with Power Invader, but it proves them right. That you **CAN'T** finish a duel on your own, and that is what you deserve...To prove them wrong by dealing the final blow!"

"Touching." Timber commented, ruining the inspirational moment. He, she noticed, set a monster and a card before pointing to Sal. "Your move, little girl." Sal smirked before drawing her new card.

"I am certainly not little, but I guess everyone is to you bean stalk." She glanced at her card with a small smile before continuing with her turn. "I send my Utopia to attack your face-down monster, Timber, with Utopia's Ray of Light!" The Utopia pointed its sword at the unknown card and released a yellow beam of light at it, revealing it to be **Legendary Six Samurai - Shinai **(1500) before it was quickly destroyed. "Haha, and I'll end my turn just like that!"

"You're an idiot! No attacking me while I was wide open!" Bridge stated as she drew her card. The smile on her face showed a plan was starting to develop, and Stocking was unsure of what was to come, but she and Sal were about to find out. "And I'll make you regret it now! I, by its effect, normal summon **Laval Lancelord **(2100/200), and activate **Circle of the Fire Kings**, allowing me to target one of the Fire type monsters on the field, like my Lancelord, and one of the Fire type monsters in my grave, and destroy Lancelord in order to special summon the other monster, and I chose **Flamvell Poun **(200/200) in defense mode!" A mystical fire swapped her two monsters, making the fire monkey reappear in a crouched position, not that it personally mattered to Stocking.

"So what? Poun is weak." Sal noticed and pointed out. Bridge grinned and grabbed the monster she banished what felt like ages ago.

"When anything destroys **Laval Lancelord **and sends it to the grave, I can pick a banished Fire monster and add it to my hand. With that, I'll set a card and end my turn." Right as she was about to draw, Stocking glanced at Bridge and noticed a pattern developing with her play-style.

"You're a recycler." She stated with a bored expression. "You bring back cards to your hand or field, allowing you to reuse their effects again and again until your combos WORK for a change, rather than fail horribly on you. Am I right?" Stocking drew her card, gaining her ace in the hole, but did nothing to show it. Rather than wait for her opponent to speak, she pressed on. "You know what? I don't care for what you honestly have to say. I'll attack your Poun with my **Power Invader** and end my turn, okay?"

"And the destruction of Poun activates his effect, allowing me to add a monster with 200 defense from my deck to the hand."

"You're so nice for a Goth. Are you a poser or a hipster Stocking?" Timber asked as he drew his card. Sarcastic question aside, he smiled at his new card and quickly played it. "I activate **Soul Release**, which allows me to remove up to five cards from your graveyard from the game. The cards I pick are **Fabled Raven**, **Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World**, **Mystical Space Typhoon**, **The Agent of Wisdom - Mercury**, and **Metal Reflect Slime**." A spectral woman plucked the listed cards from their graveyards, kindly placing them in the removed slot of their duel disks before disappearing, though that didn't seem to be the end of Timber's turn. "I then activate the trap card **Return of the Six Samurai**, allowing me to special summon Shinai (1500/1500) back to the field, normal summon **The Six Samurai - Yariza **(1000/500), and overlay the two in order to Xyz summon **Wind-Up Zenmaines **(2100) in defense mode, set a card, and end my turn."

_'Maybe being nice wasn't the way to go...'_ Stocking reconsidered as she watched the Rank 3 monster appeared, providing Timber with a second wall to hide behind until he could regain all of his pieces to use against them. Sal began her turn, drawing what would hopefully be the game winning card, and set it in her spell and trap zone, leaving speculation to grow in the Goth's brain.

"I'll attack you directly Bridge. So lets take a little off the top, shall we?" With their opponents now down to 1000 life points, the game was nearly done and over with, something that Stocking would be happy with, and watched as Sal ended her turn, allowing Bridge to start hers.

"I normal summon **Flamvell Firedog **(1900/200) and end my turn." It was easy to spot that she was setting up her monster as bait to activate a trap card of some sort, possibly a **Horn of the Phantom Beast** by chance? Either way, Stocking started her turn and glared at Timber for making the Pot of Avarice she drew useless before ending her turn. Rather than saying anything, Timber simply drew his card and ended his turn. He couldn't ram Zenmaines into any of their monsters without taking 700 life points, unless he went for Sal, who would force him to lose 1000, which would make them lose the duel. Plus, on top of that, Sal hasn't used any of her materials on Utopia, ensuring a few rounds of protection at the least, if Stocking was right.

"My turn," Sal's face changed from hopeful to enlightened, Stocking supposed was the best word to pick, and looked at Bridge with a grin. "I'll be attacking your Firedog Bridge, unless you got something for me!" The girl suddenly wore a cocky look on her face as she activated **Horn of the Phantom Beast**.

"Called it." Stocking mumbled to herself as she watched the Firedog suddenly grow a pair of oversized orange horns, allowing it to butcher Utopia, dish out 200 points of damage to them, putting their 10,000 life points down to 9800 (she was quivering in her shoes, though most would just say that Stocking was just tapping her right foot out of boredom), and watched Bridge draw a card thanks to Horn's effect. Whatever the card was, the girl looked extremely pleased at the sight of it.

"Now, main phase two, I activate **Beckoning Light**, which forces me to discard my whole hand to the grave and, in exchange, add as many Light monsters to my hand based on the amount I discarded! Since I discarded three cards, I can add three Light monsters to my hand!" One quick pick later, and Sal had three monsters back in her hand, something that made her happy beyond all measure. "And now, since I control no monsters while you control some, I can special summon **Cyber Dragon** (2100/1600) from my hand, normal summon **Alexandrite Dragon** (2000/100), and end my turn!" Bridge chuckled as she drew her card, giving Sal a sneer in the process.

"Like that did anything to improve your situation Sally-Ann. Now I'll dish out what you did to me! I normal summon **Fire King Avatar Barong **(1800/200) in attack mode!" To be honest, Stocking didn't know where to begin with describing the monster Bridge summoned. It was tall, red skinned like the ancient Indians, controlled blue fire, had fire-shaped brown hair and a long, corn-knot beard, and wore gold ornaments on its body. It reminded her of a deity, most likely what Konami was searching for, but what kind she didn't know, though that didn't matter as much as the card that Bridge was activating. "I now activate **Wild Nature's Release**, which adds the 200 defense points Barong has to its attack, making it 2000, and use it to destroy your precious Alexandrite Dragon!" Sal did nothing as both monsters destroyed each other, dropping her head with a frown formed.

"Sal, keep it together!" Stocking shouted, truly hating to see her friend acting like this. Bridge, on the other hand, laughed like a psychopath and grinned at the sight before her eyes.

"Yes, and now I'll attack your **Cyber Dragon** with my **Flamvell** **Firedog**!" The dog ran towards the metal serpent, its horns prepared to puncture the silver plates that protected its circuits, only for Sal to look up with the most unexpected look on her face...

A smile.

"Psyche!" Sal shouted as she pressed a button on her duel disk, forcing her remaining face-down card to flip, and it sure was a troublesome card that sealed Bridge and Timber's fate for this duel. Stocking grinned at the sight as the purple barrel appeared, taking the Firedog into its magical self, and created a barrel not too far from Bridge, causing the dog to run into the girl from the side.

"Ouch!" Bridge, due to being shocked by the sudden counter, couldn't stop herself from falling in fear, and neither of them did anything to stop their life points from dropping to 0, giving the duel to Stocking and Sal. The sudden trick Sal did was perfectly executed, especially since it tricked the Goth, who had to deal with such manuvers from Panty, and shouldn't have been surprised, but Stocking decided to simply grin at her friend, who smiled in return and showed her the card that won them the game.

**Magic Cylinder**.

"You dueled wonderfully Sal!" Sal, who shuffled most of her cards back into her deck and was about to walk to claim her C-Ring, paused and turned to her once more. Her smile looked a bit...fake, if Stocking had to place a word on it.

"I didn't get to Synchro summon at all, but I'm sure I'll be able to in my next duel!" She took in Sal's words and replayed the claiming of the C-Ring, recalling that Timber was to give up his Extra deck to them as well, and walked over to him. He didn't look as if he would jet the moment she got close, but she wouldn't be surprised if it was a trick to get her guard to drop, so she kept her eyes focused on him during the short walk.

"A deal is a deal, tall boy." As if answering her call, Timber's duel disk released the C-Ring into the air, allowing her to catch it as she held her left hand out for the Extra deck. The stack of cards were quickly handed to her without any hassle, but the top card was one that she personally held no love for, and didn't want to hold on to the card at all. One quick search though the stack later, and she handed the Extra deck back to him, only taking his single copy of **Wind-Up Zenmaines**. "I'll be taking this, thank you."

"W-What?" Sheesh, was the guy deaf all the way up there too? Stocking gave him a light glare and pointed to the card she took.

"I, following me? I'm only taking this card, okay?" Stocking slowly spoke, finding a little bit of amusement at the annoyed look Timber was giving her. "I don't care for Six Sams at all, so I'm taking this card as payment, okay?" With her moment of kindness now over, she turned to Sal, who was happily gloating about her victory to Megan, and turned the other direction to look at the crowd that surrounded them. Several were duelists who seemed to have been preparing their duel disks for a quick round with her and Sal, which she didn't mind; however, one very important person was missing, and that was causing her sixth sense to go off.

"Stocking!" Sal's voice caught her attention, making her turn to the girl, who ran up towards her. Her joyful look suddenly looked worried and concerned, a sight that made the Goth feel bad about ruining. "What's wrong?"

"Sal, where is Brief?"

-Rewind, a few minutes before the duel-

Brief, never being one for starting an issue with others, simply stayed mixed in the crowd as his friends, Stocking and Sal, worked their way to starting a tag-team duel against some of Sal's old classmates. If he had to truly be technical, they were bullies all the same, but classmates they once were nonetheless, and he didn't feel a need to talk to Megan, the only person who wasn't dueling. The first two turns or their duel weren't that impressive, especially with the way Bridge and Timber, he was sure those were the bullies' names, decks were releasing loud, dreadful cries during the start of the duel.

_'At least Bridge has an excuse, being a new duelist and all. But the other one...'_ Brief couldn't add any further thought for something rather sharp and irritating was poking his back. The lower spinal column if he had to be specific about it, and he would have moved his hand to push it back when he heard a heavy footstep when he was about to move._ 'A captor then...Wouldn't be the first time.'_ "Who do you work for, if I may be so gracious to ask?"

"A man who seeks to have you out of the competition, as well as pointed me to granting me more cards for my collection. So don't make any hasty moves and start walking backwards in slow steps. Wouldn't want you to draw blood now would we?" The captor wasn't quite young, possibly early twenties from his voice, but Brief wouldn't know for sure until he could see the individual. Each step took twenty seconds due to the crowd that was slowly forming around his friends, and by the time twenty seconds soon turned to what seemed to heve been five minutes, Brief found himself looking at the corner of the dueling area, and saw the shadow from the sun that motioned for the location of the strip mall close around him.

"Going into the alley are we?"

"Too suspicious, especially with your friend being one of the Anarchy Sisters. Instead, Briefers Rock, we'll be dueling in this corner with a few antes, mostly for my benefit obviously. If I win, not only do I get all of your C-Rings," Brief had two C-Rings, meaning that he would lose all hope of making it to the next round. "Not only that, but I also get all of your Dragon monsters, may they be Normal, Effect, Synchro, Xyz, Fusion, or Rituals; however, if you win not only will you get my C-Rings, but I'll tell you one thing that you'll be dying to know." Brief knew that he didn't have much of a choice to reject this proposal, considering that his "gift" took about thirty seconds to form in a hurry, which would be twenty-eight more than needed for his captor to stab him in the back. One second to realize the change, and the second to perform the action itself, which was something he didn't want to experience.

"I accept your ante, even if it is unfair in terms of winnings. So can I turn around now, or are we to duel in a bareback manner?" Brief felt the knife finally pull away from his spine, an action that caused him to release a small sigh that was quickly replaced by a slight gasp as something cold suddenly pinched his spine. He made a move to grab at whatever was now pinching him, only for the captor to push him forward, nearly making him fall to the ground in the process.

"If you try to run off, the fingerprint locked device I placed on you will send small, painful jolts through your spine that will eventually cause permanent damage to you. Think of it as...hm, what is the word I am looking for?" Brief managed to prevent his fall, if only by a few strokes of luck, and turned to his captor with a glare of evaluation to him. The guy was of average height, wearing a pair of silver tint glasses and chin-length black hair that had red streaks running through it, complimenting his black trench coat and the odd red cufflinks that looked like a serpent's eye. The guy's duel disk, ironically to an extent, reminded him of the Red Eyes Black Dragon, with the deck slot being black with sharp edges and the main field taking the shape of a black bat wing with white fangs along the tips. Did this mean that the guy was running a Red Eyes Black Dragon build, no, but it meant that he either ran a Dragon build, or an anti-meta deck.

"So do you have a name, or will I be calling you captor for the duration of this duel?" The guy smiled in a polite, yet sarcastic manner as their duel discs released their projectors, instantly shuffling their decks in the process. Why did all of his duels have him face-off against some cocky guy? Sure, Panty last night wasn't that much better in terms of trust in her cards, but at least she had _some_ skill for a beginner, but his captor seemed to believe that his deck was honestly blessed by God himself.

"You may call me Draco, and I'll even let you go first." Brief gave the captor a cold, calculating stare before drawing his five cards, glancing at his eight thousand life points in the process. Draco drew his cards and motioned for him to start with a simple wave of his unoccupied hands. "Lets see what you can do Briefers."

"With pleasure! My draw!" Brief glanced at his sixth card and pictured the options he had with it now in hand. Did he want to go full out during the first turn? No, especially not against someone who most likely studied him to an extent, but holding back would also hinder his strategy, and his deck hated to be restrained. "I send a monster from my hand to the grave in order to special summon **Quickdraw Synchron **(700/1400), but he won't be staying for long!" With his Synchron monster out and ready to play, he pulled his next card and summoned it. "Now, with my **Shield Warrior** (800/1600) on the field, I tune my level 5 monster to my level 3 warrior in order to Synchro summon **Chevalier De Fleur** (2700/2300) in attack mode!" During a first turn Synchro summon, most of Brief's opponents usually glared at him, started swearing, or even wore the look of fear on their face; however, for the first time since dueling his father, he found himself looking at someone who was clapping, CLAPPING at him. Either at him or his play, but the specific didn't matter at this moment.

"Such a splendid show of compatibility if I don't say so myself. Who knew that someone with such rare, powerful Dragons would actually be a Warrior keeping the Dragons he bound to him!" Rather than attempt to ask his captor a question to that particular statement, Brief continued his turn by setting two cards, leaving him with only one card in hand, before ending his turn. Draco drew his card, smiling at him before setting two cards and a monster before ending the turn. Whatever those cards were, Brief didn't enjoy being copied to such an extent.

"My draw," One card later, and Brief found himself with a card that could net him another Synchro summon, and instantly knew he had to make use of it, "I activate **Reinforcement of the Army**!" A large, bright blue flag appeared above him with the crest the **Maruading Captain** wore upon its center. He only looked at it for a moment before looking through his deck for his crucial part of his next Synchro summon, and shuffled his deck. "I then normal summon **Wind-Up Soldier** (1800/1200) in attack mode!"

"Oh, what a splendid toy soldier you have there. I wonder if the boss was telling the truth about you and your Dragons boy." Draco's words caught his attention, but they were serving as a distraction at the moment. All Brief should have been focusing on is defeating him, getting this bug off his spine, and returning to his friend's side to cheer them on during their duel.

"He may look like a toy, but he is as strong as many level four monsters, and I'll be sending him to attack your face-down monster!" Draco made no move to activate either of his trap cards as his soldier destroyed the hidden monster, revealing it to be one of the unliked Stardust members, **Stardust** **Xiaolong**. At least, he thought it would have been destroyed, only for it to slip out of his monster's pincers, allowing it to remain at Draco's side.

"Once per turn, this lovely Dragon isn't destroyed by battle. Care to try again Briefers?" Under normal circumstances, Brief would have sent his Chevalier to attack, use her effect to negate and destroy whatever trap card his opponent activated, and ended the turn; and yet, despite knowing what he would have done, he opted to wait and see what his opponent had in store. Was that smart? Of course it wasn't, but he didn't want to take any chances.

"I end my turn."

"An interesting hesitation, even if you sounded as if you were commenting on the weather." Draco placed his newest card to the opposite side of his hand, swapping it with a card he drew during his starting hand and set it next to his other set cards. Was this guy a burn duelist by chance? "If you don't do anything, I'll have all of my pieces ready to defeat you."

"We'll see about that." Brief started his turn, drawing his card with a passive nod before setting it with his other cards. It would serve its purpose later, he proposed to himself, and went forward for his plan. "I normal summon **Comrade Swordsman of Landstar **(500/1200) in attack mode, and activate my soldier's effect!"

"Your soldier won't get the chance to grow today Briefers, for I activate **Divine Wrath**!" A bundle of dark, ominous thunder clouds appeared high above the duo, making it seem as if rain was about to pour on them. Instead, the coulds began to brighten from the inside, as if they were growing in power. "By discarding a card from my hand, I can negate the effect of an effect monster on the field and destroy that monster!" The clouds suddenly took a bright, destructive glow and released a single bolt of thunder to strike at his Wind-Up Soldier, intending to destroy it without any remorse. It would have worked, if Draco didn't make a mistake at least.

"Sorry, but that won't happen." A flurry of pink flower petals intercepted the thunderbolt, forcing it to reroute its course back to itself and, in conjunction, destroy its card in the process. Draco looked at him for an answer, but didn't seem too upset about the negation of his trap card's effect. "Once per turn, my **Chevalier De Fleur** can negate a spell or trap card on your side of the field and destroy it. So, again, I'll be activating my Wind-Up Soldier's effect, raising his level by one, as well as granting him an additional four hundred attack until the end phase of this turn!" His soldier grew in size, but it was a bit of a shame that it wouldn't stay on the field for long. "Now I tune my level 3 **Comrade Swordsman of Landstar **to my level 5 **Wind-Up Soldier** in order to Synchro summon **Red Dragon Archfiend **(3000/2000)!"

"And there it is!" Draco's shout at the emergence of one of his Dragon-type monsters was unusual, though one would argue that the smile on the man's face was worse. The red, ferocious Dragon that rivals the **Stardust Dragon** and its line appeared in a flame of glory, briefly circling around Chevalier before settling on a being several feet away from the Warrior-type, not that it mattered to him of course.

"I'm sure even you know of its effect regarding Defense-position monsters, correct?" **Red Dragon Archfiend **roared in cannibalistic joy at the thought of destroying a monster, especially one of the Stardust line if Brief had to place a bet on it, and grinned. "So let me show you how his effect works!"

"Not so fast!" A grotesque, familiar wheel appeared and launched chains from its joints to capture his Dragon before it could land its attack, and dragged his monster over to itself. Of all the cards, why did he have to come across that one against him? "My **Nightmare Wheel** will prevent it from attacking, changing its position, and since you used your Chevalier's effect earlier, you can't negate it!"

_'He isn't as stupid as I thought.'_ Unless Brief drew a stronger monster, which wouldn't be much considering how weak Xiaolong was defense wise (100), he wouldn't be able to clear the field for some direct attacks. Though he was sure that he could do double, if not triple the amount of damage done to him per turn, he would still have to sit with losing 500 points of damage during each of Draco's standby phases. "I end my turn."

"And with that, my draw phase." One card was suddenly added to the man's hand, and that triggered the trap's effect to activate, stretching the limbs of his Dragon a bit more than naturally allowed, earning a roar of pain in exchange. This roar was completely focused on him, sending the loud, visible pulse of anger to strike him, making him lose 500 life points. "I'll set a monster and end my turn."

"Which means that I can enter my turn." **Goblindbergh **would do the job of destroying the Xiaolong, but with a second monster on the field, he wouldn't be able to go in for some direct damage quick enough for his liking. He would have to wait a turn. "I end."

"And with that, you lose another 500 life points (7500-500=7000) thanks to my **Nightmare Wheel**. My turn, by the way." With one new card in hand, Draco set not only another monster, but another card in his spell/trap zone, causing some thought for what the card could be to settle in Brief's brain. Was he trying to get him to attack and set off his trap cards to render his monsters powerless, Brief wondered, but it didn't make too much sense. Burning at such a slow pace, while annoying, would do the job as long as he didn't draw another **Mystical Space Typhoon**. On the other hand, Brief didn't have much to worry as long as Draco didn't use a **Mysical Space Typhoon** or **Heavy Storm**, seeing as he had his own traps waiting for his captor.

"My turn," Brief drew his card with a small smile at the sight of it, "and I normal summon **Goblindbergh** (1400/0), and use his effect to special summon **D.D. Warrior** (1500/1600) in attack mode in exchange for putting my **Goblindbergh **in defense position (0)." The combo of his monsters went off without a hitch, revealing the blonde warrior from another realm standing with her beam saber ready to deal serious damage, as well as his goblin in the plane hovering with its goggles off its face. "And now I send my Chevalier to attack your face-down to the right!" His monster suddenly appeared behind the card, her rapier whipped to the side, and the card suddenly flipped open to reveal **Stardust Phantom** (0) before it disappeared in a blur of pixels. With one monster destroyed, he knew that Draco would start activating his traps against any further attacks, so he had to truly be careful at this point. "And now attack **Stardust** **Xiaolong**, D.D. Warrior!"

"Haha, are you an idiot?" Draco asked as the blonde warrior stabbed the Stardust member, only for it to pull away with its chest taking on a light blue glow. Did he really not know of the D.D. archtype's usual effects? "My Xiaolong can't be destroyed by battle once per turn!" Brief nodded, though he didn't just stop with the simple nod. Oh no, he pulled **D.D. Warrior** off his duel disk and pointed the card at the man's Dragon, smiling as the small glow that started on its chest suddenly collapsed, creating a small hole.

"I activate my monster's effect, allowing me to remove both her and your monster from the duel." The Dragon screamed as the hole suddenly grew in size, making it sink into the hole until the card that supported its appearance was completely destroyed in a blur of pixels. The glare that appeared on his face was well worth not Xyz summoning for his Heroic Champion or **Gem-Knight Pearl**, but he trusted his deck to come through for him. "With that, I end my turn."

"Grrr, draw!" Brief found himself sporting 6500 life points in moments, and waited for Draco to pull off whatever tactic he was going to do. Hopefully, the man slipped up and would summon some sort of beater. "I normal summon **Twin-Headed Behemoth** (1500/1200), flip summon my **Influence Dragon** (900), and tune the two together in order to Synchro summon my **Iron Chain Dragon** (2500/1300) in attack mode!"

"Sorry," Brief spat out as he activated one of his trap cards, "but my **Bottomless Trap Hole** will see to it that your Xiaolong has some company for the remainder of the duel!" Though nothing spectacular happened in terms of holograms, the furious look on Draco's face made Brief smile even more than before, possibly one of a taunt, at the wonderful sight before him. "Now then, shall you end your turn?"

"Don't think that you can stop me now!" Draco shouted as Brief drew his new card. As much as **Dark Hole** was useful, it was pointless; however, if it was **Heavy Storm**...Well, he would live with the sacrifices of losing two trap cards.

"I'll change my **Goblindbergh **from defense mode to attack mode (1400), and send it to attack first!"

"Oh no you don't!" A trio of blue robed nuns appeared, chanting a blue barrier as his **Goblindbergh** flew towards them. "I activate **Waboku**, which prevents any battle damage to occur during this turn!" Brief knew that he could go in for an additional attack, negate and destroy whatever trap Draco would activate when he did, but was it really worth it? No, but he did have an idea as to what would be beneficial at the moment.

"Main phase two," Brief placed **Red Dragon Archfiend **over **Chevalier De Fleur**, "I overlay my **Red Dragon Archfiend **over my **Chevalier De Fleur** in order to Xyz summon **Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis** (3000/2400) in attack mode!" The way that his Hieratic monster appeared on the field was simply magical in style, especially when it seemed to rip itself out of the black hole that created the Overlay network anyway, but that wasn't it. Oh no. It was also the way that Draco seemed to brighten at his monster that also brought a rather wicked grin on Brief's face, if only because he knew that the man wouldn't like what would come next. "You like? He's an original first edition from the Galactic Overlord set, and trust me when I say you'll not be enjoying what comes next!"

"Oh no, you don't mean-"

"Yes, by detaching a material, as well as tributing my **Goblindbergh**, I can destroy a card on the field. Since there is only one card on your side of the field, well, you should know what comes next..." A golden fireball, one the size of Crazy Cabbie when he possessed the semi-truck, flared to life in Heliopolis' mouth, making it hard to see its face for the moment it held the relentless element of destruction in. A moment later, and the ball of death was spat at the card, revealing it to be Negate Attack, a troublesome card, before watching as it burned before their very eyes.

"Ow!" Literally, it would seem, as Draco had to drop the card to the ground and stepped on it a few times in order to stop it from smoldering. Did he have to explain the unnatural phenomenon? No, but would he?

"Seems as if your duel disk overheated. How about we call this duel a draw and you take this device off me so you can get it repaired?" No, he wouldn't, but maybe he could play it off to his benefit if he was lucky. Unfortunately, it seemed as if his words angered the man even more, and instead he drew his card, setting it on the field before ending his turn. "Okay then. My turn." Remember how he wanted a **Mystical Space Typhoon** or a **Heavy Storm** to take out one of the face-downs earlier in the duel? Well, his deck now decided to answer his request, and brought him what he needed when he least wanted it. Still, he couldn't deny the helpfulness of his deck now could he? "I activate **Mystical Space Typhoon**, destroying your set card, and attack directly."

"A lucky break!" Draco's life points dropped to 5000, putting Brief 1500 above him, which was a nice start for now. Now if only he could get a **Monster Reborn**, bring back one of his Synchro monsters, and deal some massive damage... "My turn, and I'll set this monster before ending it."

"Trouble with completing your plans Drago? You're certainly looking as if you'd rather be playing Bakugan right about now."

"Oh you can just go die for that one." Brief rolled his eyes and drew his card, holding back a twitch at the sight of the card he drew. If he got it while he had three monsters, he could have use it to Xyz summon his secret weapon, but that was the past, and he wouldn't get caught in it.

"I attack your monster Draco." Said monster happened to be **Axe Dragonute **(1200), yet it served its purpose for protecting Draco's life points for another turn. With not much else to do, he set the now semi-pointless card next to the others, acting as a bluff, before ending his turn. As luck would have it, Draco did the same, setting the card he drew on the field before ending, most likely a sign that it wasn't a card he needed. The card that he did draw, on the other hand, was something that he could use right away. "I normal summon my **Wind-Up Soldier** (1800/1200) and send my two monsters to attack you directly!"

"Dammit!" With only 200 life points left, there wasn't much that the man could do, and with that Brief ended his turn, confident that he would be winning this duel on his next turn. It was then that he felt a flare of energy poke its ugly head from Draco and his deck. An energy that he hadn't felt until yesterday during Stocking's first duel if he recalled correctly, and had a feeling that he tempted fate. "It is my turn, and I activate my trap card known as **Reckless Greed**, allowing me to draw two additional cards in exchange for now drawing for two turns!" With three new cards total in Draco's hand, the flare of energy Brief felt moments ago turned into a concentrated aura of it, signaling that Draco was getting a little bit more than the 'Heart of the Cards' at this moment. "I then activate **Heavy Storm**, destroying all spell and trap cards on the field!"

_'This isn't good.'_ Brief calmly noted as his three cards, **Dark Hole**, **Sakuretsu Armor**, and **Negate Attack**, were, in one word, erased before his very eyes. Now it was only a matter of time before Draco brought out an ace, he assumed.

"I now send my **Hieratic Dragon of Nuit**,** Bright Star Dragon**, and** Luster Dragon **from my hand to the grave in order to special summon my **Montage Dragon** (?/0) in attack mode!" Draco pressed a series of buttons as his azure blue dragon appeared, allowing its three heads to look at Heliopolis and snarl in rage at the monster before it. Its arms suddenly grew in terms of muscle and size, truly showing how powerful it could become, and it was then that Brief noticed the twelve stars that surrounded it. "My monster gains 300 attack points multiplied by the total amount of stars from the three monsters used to summon it, and I count twelve! That makes my Dragon 3600!"

_'Which means that he can destroy either my Heliopolis or my **Wind-Up Soldier** now to deal some damage or a critical amount, depending on who he targets. He would be a fool to not go for Heliopolis, if I was in his position of course.'_

"But there can't honestly be two dangerous Dragons on the field, and with your Hieratic monster still holding a material, he is the bigger threat than your little toy. So attack, **Montage Dragon**, with your Tri-Might!" Tri-Might, in this case, was the azure blue Dragon flying on top of Heliopolis, biting with its three heads to his monster's head and ripped it off. Despite knowing that it was a hologram, Brief felt his "gift" act up, making the energy within him stir at the sight of Heliopolis' brutal execution, and felt a small burning sensation on his lower back.

_'It can wait.'_ He decided, and placed his hand on the top of his deck. Draco noticed this action and proceeded to laugh. He truly wanted to feel his wrath, didn't he?

"Interested in your loss, huh?" Draco waved him off as he carelessly revealed the single card he had left in his hand, a second Twin-Headed Behemoth. Not that it mattered to Brief at this moment, nor would it after this turn. "I end my turn, and hope to see whatever your last attempt shall be!" Brief paused, looking Draco straight in the eyes, and proceeded to laugh.

"You don't get it, do you?" Brief asked in a sarcastic manner. One suited for a Rock, he was sure, for it made Draco glare with a frown forming on the man's face. "People like you, who manipulate their deck into their toy knows _nothing_ of the true power a deck that is fully cared for and trained will can produce. You with your Dragons, despite how powerful they are, come only when you bring them by force, not by them actually wanting you to succeed in your duel, and it is by that very action that your master is most likely afraid of!

"My deck is my soul, giving me the keys to winning my duels when I truly need it, not when I want them to appear. My monsters allow for combos so strong and perfect that there are no ways to get around them unless you cheat, and I despise those who manipulate their deck, like you, in order to get what they want. Especially. When. They. Don't. Deserve the CARDS THAT THEY SEEK!" Brief felt his deck burst with energy, allowing him to show off a rather cruel smile at Draco, who seemed less cocky than he was moments ago, and felt joy fill his heart. "You wanted my cards, am I right? Well lets see if you can handle what Briefers Rock is cooking! My draw!" The card that he drew was one that he wasn't exactly sure he had in his deck originally or not, but it could have been one that Stocking slipped in, which wouldn't have surprised him one bit.

"I start things off by playing **Monster Reborn**, which I'll use to bring back **Chevalier De Fleur** (2700/2300) in attack mode!" The sight of his Synchro monster appearing in a flurry of pink petals was perfect in his eyes, and a welcomed sight to boot. "I'll continue things off by playing **Pot of Avarice**, allowing me to return five monsters back to my deck, and draw two cards too. I pick Heliopolis, **Red Dragon** Archfiend, **Comrade Swordsman of Landstar**, **Shield Warrior**, and **Goblindbergh**!" The two cards he drew would make the difference in how this duel would go, and, as soon as he saw the cards, he knew that he had the duel in his hands. "I then normal summon **Goblindbergh **(1400/0) and use his effect to special summon **Goblin Attack Force** in exchange for turning him to defense mode (0).

"Now, I'll use **Wind-Up Soldier's** effect to bump him up a level and give him 400 attack points, making him 2200, and tribute him and **Goblin Attack Force** in order to special summon **Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon** (3000/2500) in attack mode!" And now, here he is, ready to take down that **Montage Dragon** with the key to its defeat being the final card he had in his hand, and the defeat that was to come for Draco would be sweet. He slipped it into his duel disk, grinning as his **Goblindbergh's** level grew from four to eight in seconds, and knew that this duel was his. "And with **Galaxy Queen's Light**, making **Goblindbergh** level 8, I can overlay my three monsters in order to Xyz summon my greatest monster!

"Arise from your prison within Neo-Space, **Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon** (4500/3000)!" Have you ever played any of the Silent Hill games, where the world changes from the natural one to a fogged variation with the scenery usually being destroyed in seconds before your very eyes with the exception for a small patch of land, usually where you're located? Well, that would be the best way to understand the manner which Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon arrived from his prison, sealing the area his duel was occuring within its own pocket dimension in order to truly allow him control over the fate of the duel, if he so wished it, but sought only a single thing. Actually, they were two things, but they were completely tied to the same event.

Defeat Draco rather painfully, and get the information that was promised to him.

"W...What happened? Where the fuck are we!" Draco shouted, eyes widened at the area they were currently located, but the moaning of his monster, **Montage Dragon**, caught his attention. The azure Dragon was smaller than its current form, possibly back to its original height, but looked drained of all of its strength to live. Draco focused his sight back to Brief after witnessing the change, and the man didn't look happy one bit. "What the hell did you do to my Dragon!"

"The same thing you did to my Heliopolis," Brief replied with a cruel smirk, "Used the automatic effect of Neo against you. You see, when I use **Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon** as the base of Neo, all monsters currently on the field lose their effects, which means that the power boost your **Montage Dragon** had is worthless." It was true. Without its effect being active, Montage Dragon went back to questionable attack points, which was basically the same thing as zero attack, meaning that Draco was wide open for an attack. Draco seemed to realize this, for he pressed the center of his duel disk, his eyes filled with demented glee as he held the button.

"Wait, what! Why aren't you withering in pain!" For a moment, Brief thought back to the slight burning sensation he felt on his lower back, and connected the two oddities instantly. He must have shorted it out when he subconsciously channeled energy at the sight of Heliopolis' brutal defeat, not that Draco had to know that exactly.

"That is because, in this dimension, nothing that will hurt me will occur. You, on the other hand, have much to pay for, and your payments shall start now!" Neo roared in true, demonic affection for the act of delivering pain, and its two other heads snapping forward to take a bite at **Montage Dragon**, or at Draco, he didn't care for the specifics. "**Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon**, rip through his Dragon and bring him to me!" If he was any other person, he would have closed his eyes and tried to mute out the sounds that were to be heard. If he was any sort of man, he would have stared at the sight before him, shock rooting him to do nothing but watch the event pass by; however, Briefers Rock was not a normal person by any standards, and he was **_more_** than just an average man.

He was Briefers Rock, and he waited, watching as Neo's main, intelligent head used the talon on top of its head to puncture through **Montage Dragon's** skull, and witnessed its jaw being ripped open by Neo's mouth. Draco turned to run, not knowing that it would be pointless in this sealed dimension, but it played for Brief's benefit, for it allowed Neo's two other heads to stretch downwards and bite his arms, earning him the honor of hearing the man who was his captor scream in agony as their teeth punctured most of his upper arm. No sooner was the man captured that Neo turned around, lowering itself so Draco could be presented to him at even height, which also allowed him the viewing pleasure of seeing parts of Draco's flesh begin to melt away from the sheer intense energy within Neo.

There were reasons why certain duel monster cards were limited from the printing for pack ratios after all.

"Now then..." Brief began as he grabbed Draco by his chin, lowering his head so they could make eye contact. "You'll be telling me everything about your boss, and whatever plans he had in store for me. Understand?" Neo, as if to further his point of wanting information, lowered its main head so its talon could poke Draco's forehead, slowly moving upwards to leave a straight cut that began to bleed. "And for your sake, I hope you have a novel of information to tell me." A sudden flare of energy surrounded Draco, burning Neo to the point where it dropped its captor, who suddenly disappeared in a flash of white light, signaling the use of holy alignment. Brief, at that moment, blinked at the open space where his prey, who was also the only person who currently had information about who was targeting him, was a few seconds ago, and sighed. "Oh WHAT THE FU-"

Neo's roar, which outclassed his own by eons, couldn't hide the anger that threatened to destroy the area they were in.

-Author Note-

Hello one and all! As usual, I don't own Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Yu-Gi-Oh, or any other sort of references that find their way into this story of mine. I do own some cards, the original characters that appear in this, as well as some Panty & Stocking items, plus the season one DVD series to boot. With that out-of-the-way, hello everyone, and welcome to another update of Sugar, Geeks, and Card Games, Oh My! Now, this story isn't EXACTLY off the hiatus status yet, but there is a reason that I am updating it at the moment.

You see, I happened to get a structure deck that I rather dislike, the Fire King structure deck, and I was grateful to get it as a gift (birthday and all), but I really didn't care for much else except for the **Pot of Dualtiy **and the **Call of the Haunted** within it. So, right as I was willing and ready to dismantle the deck, I realized that it could be the thing to get an update for this story up and running, and started typing the chapter out for the duel. Originally, the duel was going to be just Bridge vs Sal, with Megan taunting on the side lines as Stocking and Brief went for their very own duels, but the original result of the duel went too fast, and didn't truly show off much of the deck at all, which I blame my bad shuffling skills.

So, I had to redo the duel, and then I spilled the deck on the floor, forcing me to pick it up. I then noticed, as I picked up the final card, that I accidentally picked up one of the few Six Samurai monsters that I own, and realized that I had a second deck I could use for the story, one of my old Warrior builds, and altered it for the purpose of a one-time duel. The only problem with the new addition was that I needed a way to still include the Fire King deck quickly, and I realized that making it a tag-team duel would solve most of my problems, even if I feel that a back to back tag-team duel is a bit corny. the chapter still felt too short in my opinion, especially since it would have left off at Brief being forced to walk into the alley, so I continued from his point of view, revealing a bit more about himself, the boss that is interested in him, and allowing for inner Brief to get more screen time.

Or, at the very least, showing that Brief doesn't hold his composure all the time. Whatever reason fits your fancy I suppose.

Moving past that, I can now dismantle the Fire King deck without any guilt, as well as take out a card or two from the Draco's extra deck and put it elsewhere. I also took the time to look through most of the commons from my card shop and found a good stack of interesting cards to use in future duels, as well as a few cards I was personally looking for myself. Though, the spell card called **Gather Your Mind** is rather useless, and I only plucked two copies to see if I could use them for anything interesting, and the end result was just to thin my deck and to add spell counters to whatever I needed to.

Also, before I forget, I feel as if I should mention this in the event that readers who come across this are duelists who follow the latest ban list. Until the second phase of the tournament is reached, the first round duels, or C-Ring Hunts as I prefer to call them, shall follow the September 2012 list, and once it reaches the second round, the competitors will have to change their decks to follow the new list. So, with that out of the way, it is time to answer some reviews!

**Blood Brandy:** Yes, and from what you've read in this chapter, those chinks will either get repaired to keep his inner Brief in check, or shall break away and reveal the true him. Whether that will be a good thing or bad is left to be seen, but that is enough of that for now. And yes, before I forget, he did pick up the Ancient Fairy Dragon for Sal.

**Sage of Eyes:** I thank you for your review and support, as well as personally thank you for rereading my older stories. I bet they're certainly a train wreck to be honest.

**HotelKatz:** Yep! Panty is playing the game for a particular reason, one that is hidden for now, and won't stop playing until she finds that reason out. As for the Pokemon comment, that one was given. Who didn't like how James looked in the original Pokemon series before it changed art styles? I do have a few ideas for some P&S/Pokemon crossovers, so who knows what may be seen in the future?

With the reviews answered, I don't have much else to say at this time. I'm working on a real life story at the moment, as well as updating my other stories with some work going into some new ones as well. So I can tell you right now that I'll be busy for a good amount of time. So, until we meet again, please review and stay golden!


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